CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL 
SOCIOLOGY' 

" 


BY 
JOHN  M.  GILLETTE 

PROFESSOR   OF  SOCIOLOGY,    UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

GEORGE  E.  VINCENT 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MINNESOTA 


Hew 

STURGIS  &  WALTON 
COMPANY 

1913 
All  rights  reserved 


Copyrigrht  1913 
By  STURGIS  &  WALTON  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  February,  1813 


INTRODUCTION 

Interest  in  the  problems  of  rural  life  is  wide-spread,  but 
it  is  too  generally  uniformed.  City  people  praise  a  life 
close  to  nature  but  avoid  the  life  itself.  Alarmists  predict 
the  early  depopulation  of  the  countryside.  Optimists  count 
upon  macadamised  roads,  telephones,  rural  free  delivery  and 
moving-pictures  at  the  school-house  to  make  the  farming 
population  happy  and  contented.  Despondent  citizens  pre- 
dict a  scarcity  of  food  products  and  an  early  dependence 
upon  Russia  and  the  Argentine.  Still  others  querulously 
ask  why  the  urban  unemployed  refuse  to  accept  large  wages 
and  a  comfortable  home  as  labourers  upon  the  farms,  or  why 
the  dwellers  in  tenements  do  not  eagerly  seek  the  soil  and 
add  to  the  national  wealth. 

There  is  a  zeal  for  agricultural  education.  Experiment 
stations,  colleges  of  agriculture,  agricultural  high  schools 
are  being  multiplied,  and  even  in  the  common  schools  agri- 
cultural subjects  are  being  introduced.  There  is  a  deep- 
ening conviction  that  if  only  agricultural  knowledge  and 
skill  can  be  widely  distributed,  and  if  the  young  can  be  given 
insight  and  enthusiasm  for  farming  pursuits,  our  problems 
will  be  solved. 

The  demand  for  new  forms  of  agricultural  extension  is 
growing.  Farmers'  Institutes  are  declared  to  be  an  out- 
grown device.  It  is  insisted  that  experts  must  go  to  the 
farmers  on  their  farms,  that  demonstration  plots  must  be 
scattered  throughout  the  countryside,  that  county  agricul- 
tural advisers  must  be  appointed  to  serve  the  farmers  of  the 
region. 

Club  women  of  town  and  city  are  concerning  themselves 
with  the  life  of  women  and  girls  upon  the  farm.  To  many 
the  difficulty  now  is  not  so  much  to  keep  the  boy  on  the  farm 

259871 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

as  it  is  to  make  rural  life  worth  while  for  the  girl.  It  is 
proposed,  therefore,  to  supply  the  house  with  the  results  of 
an  inventive  skill  which  heretofore  has  been  employed  al- 
most wholly  on  the  farm  outside  the  dwelling.  A  more  in- 
teresting social  life  for  farm  women,  closer  contact  with 
neighbours  and  with  the  nearest  market  town,  are  being 
urged.  The  extension  of  information  about  home  decora- 
tion, cookery,  and  other  household  arts  is  being  made  a  part 
of  agricultural  education  and  University  extension  every- 
where. 

All  these  conflicting  ideas,  suggestions,  devices,  need  the 
steadying  of  fact  and  of  authoritative  principles.  What  is 
to  be  the  future  of  agricultural  industry?  Is  it  to  be  or- 
ganised on  a  factory  system  with  large  farms  under  expert 
management,  or  will  the  typical  agricultural  unit  be  the 
small  farm  intensively  cultivated  by  one  family?  Or  will 
these  two  systems  be  combined  in  different  ways  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  ?  How  are  questions  of  this  kind  to  be 
determined?  What  are  the  influences  at  work?  These 
are  pertinent  questions. 

The  purpose  of  this  volume  is  to  provide  in  a  clear  and 
untechnical  way  the  fundamental  facts  upon  which  judg- 
ments about  past  development,  present  tendencies  and  future 
growth  are  to  be  based.  This  volume  ought  to  increase  in- 
terest in  rural  problems  and  to  make  that  interest  more  in- 
telligent. It  is  to  be  welcomed  as  an  important  addition 
to  the  literature  of  the  subject.  It  brings  together  in  com- 
pact and  convenient  form  a  mass  of  significant  facts  and  it 
draws  sane  and  careful  inferences.  Professor  Gillette  has 
shown  a  clear  grasp  of  the  subject  and  has  given  us  a  val- 
uable book  which  will  be  welcomed  not  only  in  school  and 
college,  but  by  the  general  reader. 

GEORGE  E.  VINCENT. 

President  of  the  University  of  Minnesota. 
December,  1912. 


PKEFACE 

Rural  conditions  are  attracting  widespread  attention. 
Numerous  articles  and  volumes  dealing  with  country-life 
matters  have  appeared  during  the  past  few  years.  While 
many  of  the  books  issued  are  exceedingly  useful  hardly  any 
of  them  could  be  considered  a  rural  sociology.  To  consider 
together  the  various  phases  of  the  life  of  the  rural  com- 
munity and  so  to  organise  and  present  them  that  they  shall 
convey  a  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  the  problems  of 
country  life  is  surely  a  useful  undertaking.  The  present 
modest  volume  is  an  attempt  to  do  this. 

The  writer's  interest  in  rural  matters  was  first  aroused 
by  Professor  Charles  R.  Henderson's  course  on  "  Rural 
Communities "  at  the  University  of  Chicago  in  1900.  A 
course  of  lectures  entitled  "  North  Dakota  Sociology  "  was 
offered  students  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota  in 
1908.  But  in  order  to  interpret  many  local  conditions  a 
larger  comparative  study  was  necessary.  This  larger  un- 
dertaking furnished  the  foundation  for  the  present  volume. 

In  this  volume  it  is  sought  to  define  the  scope  of  rural 
sociology,  to  differentiate  between  rural  and  urban  communi- 
ties, to  distinguish  the  types  of  rural  communities  in  the 
United  States  and  to  indicate  the  physical  and  social  influ- 
ences which  have  produced  them,  to  consider  the  movement 
of  population  from  country  to  city  and  the  nature  of  the 
moving  conditions,  to  compare  the  advantages  of  country  and 
city,  to  mark  out  the  nature  of  the  rural  problem,  to  con- 
sider the  improvement  of  agriculture,  farm  marketing,  farm 
labour,  and  the  farm  home  so  far  as  they  concern  rural  com- 
munity welfare,  and  to  take  an  inventory  of  social  institu- 
tions and  indicate  how  they  may  be  improved. 

yii 


yiii  PKEFACE 

The  aim  of  the  author  is  primarily  to  supply  a  text  on 
rural  sociology  that  may  be  used  in  universities,  colleges, 
agricultural  colleges,  and  normal  schools.  The  attempt  has 
been  made  to  give  the  facts  and  conditions  of  country  life  a 
broad  sociological  interpretation.  Much  valuable  concrete 
data  has  been  suppressed  in  order  that  principles  might  be 
prominent.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  the  style  is  suffi- 
ciently simple  and  direct  to  render  the  volume  available  for 
general  purposes.  In  fact  the  writer  has  written  "  Con- 
structive Eural  Sociology"  with  the  desire  to  reach  the  in- 
telligent farmer  as  well  as  the  teacher  or  student. 

A  criticism  as  to  the  scope  of  the  text  may  arise  relative 
to  certain  portions  of  chapters  7,  8,  9,  and  11.  It  may  be 
alleged  that  matters  are  treated  which  belong  to  economics, 
agriculture,  and  to  sanitary  and  mechanical  engineering. 
Technically  such  a  criticism  may  be  just.  It  is  lessened  by 
practical  considerations,  however,  for  many  institutions  in 
which  instruction  in  rural  matters  is  desired  may  not  offer 
separate  courses  which  develop  those  subjects  in  a  special- 
ised manner;  or  more  general  readers  may  not  have  facil- 
ities for  informing  themselves  relative  to  them.  It  seemed 
best,  therefore,  to  make  a  somewhat  comprehensive  survey 
of  the  improvement  of  agriculture,  the  home,  marketing,  and 
sanitation.  Moreover  the  attempt  has  been  made  in  each 
case  to  give  the  subject  a  sociological  bearing.  But  if  the 
proper  sociological  limits  have  been  exceeded,  good  prece- 
dent for  the  excess  exists.  For  Professor  Carver  has  em- 
bodied in  his  "  Principles  of  Eural  Economics "  consider- 
able material  of  a  sociological  nature. 

In  the  nature  of  the  case  I  am  indebted  to  many  writers 
for  the  material  embraced  in  most  portions  of  the  study. 
Pull  acknowledgment  of  this  by  references  throughout  the 
work  has  been  made.  I  am  accountable  for  the  organisation 
of  the  material  and  for  the  plan  of  the  work.  The  chapters 
which  are  peculiar  to  this  work  will  be  discovered  by  crit- 


PEEFACE  ix 

ical  students  in  due  time,  and  will  stand  or  fall,  according 
to  their  merits;  as  indeed  will  the  whole  volume. 

I  desire  especially  to  thank  my  colleague,  Assistant 
Professor  Meyer  Jacobstein  of  the  department  of  economics, 
for  valuable  suggestions,  Mr.  George  R.  Davies,  teaching 
fellow  in  sociology  in  the  University  of  North  Dakota,  who 
has  performed  the  exacting  work  of  making  the  index,  and 
President  George  E.  Vincent  of  the  University  of  Minne- 
sota who  kindly  consented  to  write  the  introduction. 

JOHN  M.  GILLETTE. 

University  of  North  Dakota, 
December  6,  1912. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION      .    -..    f.     .     .     .     .    :.    ,.,    .    ,.    ,.:    ,.:    w    :.     .      v 

PBEFACE    .     .-    ,.    -.    >:    -.,    .-.    ,.-    ...    t.,    •••    :.    ••    r.;    w    M    ,.    w   vii 

CHAPTER 

I.    MEANING  AND  IMPOBTANCE  OF  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY     .     .    ,..      3 
IL    DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  RURAL  AND  URBAN  COMMUNITY  .     .       9 

IIL    TYPES  OF  COMMUNITIES  AS  RESULTS  OF  THE  DIFFEREN- 
TIATING EFFECTS  OF  ENVIRONMENT 20 

I.    Pure  agricultural  type 21 

II.    Mixed-agricultural  type    .      .      .      ......     ,.     25 

III.  Frontier  type >      .      .      .     :.      ,     26 

IV.  Backward  communities .28 

IV.    RURAL  AND  URBAN  INCREASE .     ,.,    32 

I.     Facts  as  to  drift  to  cities 32 

II.     Sources  of  city  growth ,.35 

III.     Significance  and  causes  of  migration  to  cities  ...     40 

V.    THE  SOCIAL  NATURE  OF  THE  RURAL  PROBLEM     ....     47 

VI.    ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES  OF  FARM  LIFE     .     .     .     57 

I.     Advantages 59 

II.    Disadvantages      ...          ;.     71 

VII.    IMPROVEMENT  OF  AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTION     ....  77 

I.     Sociological  implication  of  agriculture 77 

II.     Illustrations  of  gains  from  science  applied  to  agricul- 
tural production 80 

VIII.    IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  FARMING  ...     90 

I.     Farm  management .90 

II.     Farm  marketing 98 

III.    Benefits  of  organisation 103 

IX.    IMPROVEMENT  OF  TRANSPORTATION  AND  COMMUNICATION  .  110 

I.     Social  and  economic  aspects 110 

II.    The  improvement  of  roads 116 

X.    SOCIAL  ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AND  LABOR  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  123 
I.    Available  and  unimproved  area  .     ;.     .....   123 

II.    Tendency  in  size  of  farms      .     ,.     ,.;    ,.     >;    „•     .     .   12Z 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

III.  Tenant  farming .      .      .130 

IV.  Farm  labor 137 

XI.    RURAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION 147 

I.     General  considerations 147 

II.     Sanitation  in  the  home 150 

III.     Neighbourhood  sanitation 161 

XII.    MAKING  FARM  LIFE  MORE  ATTRACTIVE 168 

I.     Farm  buildings 170 

II.     Improvement  of  the  utilities  of  home  and  farm  .      .172 
III.     Improvement  of  grounds 180 

XIII.  SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTRY  LIFE 184 

Meaning  and  desirability 184 

Direction  it  should  take 195 

XIV.  RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  AND  THEIR  IMPROVEMENT  .     .  200 

Clubs 200 

Farmers'  organizations 207 

Library 213 

XV.    RURAL    SOCIAL    INSTITUTIONS    AND    THEIR    IMPROVEMENT 

(CONTINUED)  — THE  CHURCH 217 

Function 217 

Principles  regulative  of  what  it  may  undertake  .      .  219 

Decadence 223 

Methods  of  improving 227 

Y.  M.  C.  A 229 

XVI.    SOCIAL     INSTITUTIONS     (CONTINUED)  — ADJUSTMENT     OF 

EDUCATION  TO  RURAL  NEEDS 233 

Sociological  demands 233 

Rural  schools 236 

Higher  education 254 

XVII.     RURAL  CHARITY  AND  CORRECTION 264 

I.     Conditions  in  the  country 264 

II.     Improvement  of  charitable  and  corrective  institutions  269 

XVIII.    RURAL  SOCIAL  SURVEYS 281 

I.     Importance  of  the  survey 281 

II.    Nature  of  the  survey 285 

INDEX  .  .  293 


TABLES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 

NUMBER  PAGE 

I.  Death  rate  of  children  in  registration  states  .      .      .      .     .     61 

II.     Rural  and  city  death  rate  by  age 62 

III.  Mortality  per  100,000  of  population  (city  and  rural)    .      .     62 

IV.  Death  rate  by  race,  nativity,  and  nativity  of  parents  .      .     63 
V.     Loss  from  insects 84 

VI.     Average  cost  of  farm  board 94 

VII.     Rates  per  hour  for  labour 94 

VIII.  Hours  worked  per  day  by  men  and  horses                .     .     .     94 

IX.     Cost  of  keeping  horse,  and  horse  labour 95 

X.  Values  consumed  per  acre  from  farm  machinery   ...     95 

XI.  Forage  crops:  cost  of  production  and  feeding  value  ...     96 

XII.     Cost  of  growing  oats 96 

XIII.  Cost  of  growing  hay " .     97 

XIV.  Distribution  of  profits  on  agricultural  commodities  .      .      .    103 
XV.    Telephones  in  corn  belt  states .     .      .113 

XVI.     Number  of  farms  of  specific  acreage 128 

XVII.     Land  tenure  in  United  States  by  divisions 130 

XVIII.  Percentage  of  persons  owning  and  hiring  farm  homes  .      .   131 

XIX.     Diseases  of  school  children 162 

XX.     Physical  defects  of  school  children 163 

XXI.  Physical  differences  between  rural  and  city  children  .      .    192 

XXII.     Comparative  attendance  in  rural  schools 237 

XXIII.    Details  of  school  expenditure 238 

Diagram:  Used  and  unused  lands  in  United  States 125 

Map :  Rural  Methodist  parish  .........     t.     ......  290 


Xlll 


CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 


CONSTRUCTIVE   RURAL 
SOCIOLOGY 

CHAPTER  I 

MEANING   AND   IMPORTANCE   OF   RURAL    SOCIOLOGY 

Scope  and  Meaning. —  Rural  sociology  has  as  its  partic- 
ular task  to  take  a  full  inventory  of  the  conditions  of  life  in 
rural  communities.  It  must  discover  their  tendencies  and 
deficiencies,  map  out  the  special  problems,  and  indicate  ways 
of  betterment  according  to  the  best  ideals  of  social  life.  It 
is  not,  therefore,  a  mere  dilettante  study.  It  seeks  to  be 
useful.  Its  aim  is  to  be  practical,  in  the  sense  of  organising 
information  with  a  view  to  throwing  light  on  a  given  situa- 
tion. It  has  shortcomings  because  the  field  is  new  and  not 
yet  thoroughly  organised,  and  because  many  phases  of  it 
are  yet  to  be  explored  and  charted.  A  study  of  rural  life 
such  as  is  here  made,  while  it  may  settle  nothing  absolutely, 
may  still  entitle  us  to  hold  an  opinion  or  conviction,  and  may 
even  lead  the  way  to  a  right  policy  and  useful  action. 

The  task  of  rural  sociology  being  to  consider  the  subject 
in  its  wholeness  and  to  consider  special  features  with  a  view 
to  determining  their  influence  upon  rural  life  as  a  whole, 
rural  sociology  is  by  that  differentiated  from  other  rural 
studies,  such  as  rural  economics,  for  instance.  The  latter 
study  would  seek  to  discover  the  best  methods  of  conducting 
rural  matters  in  order  best  to  advance  business  and  to  make 
wealth.  It  regards  the  wealth  motive,  and  places  it  in  the 
center  of  its  considerations.  It  asks  "  Does  this  way  or  that 

3 


4  CONSTRUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

way  most  conduce  to  wealth  production  ? "  When  it  has 
found  out,  it  advocates  pursuing  that  special  way.  Rural 
transportation,  for  instance,  interests  the  economist  because 
it  is  necessary  to  carry  on  the  economic  activities  of  farming. 
It  interests  the  sociologist  because  it  is  a  means  of  communi- 
cation, of  social  intercourse,  of  raising  the  satisfaction  of 
life.  The  economist  and  the  sociologist  treat  the  same  things 
frequently,  but  there  can  be  no  conflict  so  long  as  each  keeps 
his  legitimate  aim  directly  before  him. 

The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  political  scientist  and 
sociologist,  to  the  historian  and  sociologist,  and  to  all  other 
special  social  scientists  and  the  sociologist. 

Just  what  the  social  problems  of  rural  community  life  are 
we  shall  determine  when  we  come  to  treat  the  special  prob- 
lems of  social  life.  We  shall  there  seek  to  locate  the  prob- 
lems, to  outline  them,  and  to  discuss  them  as  fully  as  possible. 

The  Importance  of  Rural  Sociology. —  The  commanding 
attention  which  at  the  present  time  is  being  devoted  to  rural 
problems  and  which  is  roughly  and  loosely  called  "  rural 
sociology  "  is  one  of  the  best  proofs  of  the  importance  of 
rural  sociology.  Value  is  a  social  product.  Things  are  val- 
uable more  or  less  according  to  the  strength  of  people's  appre- 
ciation of  them  and  desire  for  them.  If  a  subject  occupies 
the  public  mind  it  is  valuable  for  the  public  to  the  extent  of 
its  pressure.  Whether  it  is  of  permanent  value  depends  on 
its  inherent  power  to  compete  with  other  issues.  We  must 
grant  to  rural  sociology  at  least  a  very  large  temporary  im- 
portance. 

Besides  the  foregoing  evidence  of  its  current  importance 
several  additional  reasons  may  be  given  as  an  indication  of 
its  more  permanent  value. 

The  Importance  of  Agriculture. —  Our  nation  is  becom- 
ing less  and  less  agricultural  as  measured  by  the  proportion 
of  persons  engaging  in  that  pursuit.  From  this  it  might 
seem  that  agriculture  is  becoming  less  important.  However, 


MEAKENG  AM)  IMPOKTANTCE  5 

when  it  is  observed  that  all  our  inhabitants  depend  on  the 
products  of  the  farms  and  that  population  tends  to  overtake 
the  amount  of  food  a  given  territory  produces  the  opinion 
arises  that  agriculture  may  become  increasingly  important 
to  a  nation.  When  it  is  further  observed  that  the  quality  of 
life  of  an  economic  class  is  likely  to  be  determined  by  the 
income,  and  that  the  intelligence  and  culture  of  the  farming 
portion  of  the  nation  is  dependent  on  its  productivity;  and 
that  even  the  quality  of  life  of  all  the  people  of  the  nation 
may  be  dependent  on  or  affected  by  the  cost  of  food,  which 
in  turn  is  determined  by  the  quantity  our  farmers  are  able 
to  produce  ultimately,  the  subject  gains  a  still  larger  im- 
portance. 

Attention  is  being  devoted  to  this  subject.  As  an  example 
of  current  consideration  Mr.  James  J.  Hill  may  be  cited. 
He  estimates  that  the  population  of  the  United  States  will 
be  117,036,229  in  1920,  142,091,663  in  1930,  170,905,412 
in  1940,  and  204,041,223  in  1950.  He  emphasizes  the  fact 
that  this  colossal  population  will  be  witnessed  within  the 
coming  generation.  "  Therefore,  and  this  is  the  focal  point 
of  the  whole  matter,  the  country  is  approaching  the  inevitable 
advent  of  a  population  of  150,000,000  or  200,000,000  within 
the  lifetime  of  those  now  grown  to  man's  estate,  with  a  po- 
tential food  supply  that  fails  as  the  draft  upon  it  advances. 
How  are  these  people  to  be  fed  ?  "  1 

The  general  social  significance  of  agriculture  to  the  nation 
he  notes  in  these  words :  "  A  prosperous  agricultural  inter- 
est is  to  a  nation  what  good  digestion  is  to  a  man.  The  farm 
is  the  basis  of  all  industry.  The  soil  is  the  only  resource  that 
renews  itself  continually  after  having  produced  value.  I  do 
not  wish  to  belittle  the  importance  of  manufacture  or  its 
relative  value  in  general  growth.  But  for  many  years  this 
country  has  made  the  mistake  of  unduly  assisting  manu- 
facture, commerce,  and  other  activities  that  center  in  cities, 

i"  Highways  of  Progress,"  Chap.  1. 


6          CONSTKUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

at  the  expense  of  the  farm.  The  result  is  a  neglected  system 
of  agriculture  and  the  decline  of  the  farming  interest.  But 
all  these  other  activities  are  founded  upon  agricultural  growth 
of  the  nation  and  must  continue  to  depend  upon  it.  Every 
manufacturer,  every  merchant,  every  business  man,  every 
good  citizen  is  deeply  interested  in  maintaining  the  growth 
and  development  of  our  agricultural  resources."  2 

But  that  America  will  be  able  to  meet  future  exigencies 
for  food  production  can  scarcely  be  doubted.  The  signs  of 
this  are  given  in  the  statement  of  the  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture. 

"  A  demand  that  is  more  difficult  to  fulfil  in  production 
per  acre  is  for  an  increase  that  equals  or  exceeds  the  actual 
increase  of  population,  including  the  immigrants  and  the 
temporarily  high  birth  rate  of  the  foreign  born.  But,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  this  difficulty  is  greater  in  the 
United  States  than  it  is  in  all  other  countries  that  have  prac- 
tically ceased  to  take  much  new  land  into  cultivation,  many 
of  the  states  of  this  nation  are  each  maintaining  an  increase 
of  production  in  the  case  of  one  or  more  prominent  crops 
that  is  greater  than  the  actual  increase  of  population.  Ten 
states  are  doing  this  in  the  case  of  corn ;  for  wheat  the  num- 
ber is  22 ;  for  oats,  16 ;  and  for  hay,  25."  3 

The  Importance  of  Rural  Social  Problems. —  Much  that  is 
said  about  country  life  is  entirely  economic.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  get  statistics  of  wealth  and  to  determine  the  backward- 
ness of  tillage,  or  of  stock-breeding.  But  there  is  a  larger 
aspect  of  country  life  which  can  hardly  be  put  statistically, 
although  statistics  may  give  some  indication  of  the  drift  of 
things.  The  quality  of  life  on  the  farm;  the  happiness  and 
contentment  which  are  the  bone  and  sinew  of  well-being  of 
the  individual  and  society;  the  intellectual  outlook  on  life 
which  determines  whether  or  not  the  individual  and  his  class 

2  Same,  pp.  45-6. 

s  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  1910,  p.  28. 


MEANING  AND  IMPORTANCE  t 

will  take  part  in  progress  or  be  the  objects  of  exploitation; 
the  relation  of  the  farmers  as  a  class  to  other  classes,  and 
hence  the  ease  or  difficulty  of  securing  cooperation  for  larger 
community  purposes;  all  these  suggest  problems  and  issues 
which  are  not  immediately  economic,  political,  religious,  but 
which  are  primarily  social. 

Usefulness  to  Rural  Inhabitants. —  Living  creatures  have 
always  contended  with  the  environment  in  extracting  their 
living  from  it.  The  more  they  have  come  to  understand  it 
the  better  they  have  been  enabled  to  use  it  for  their  advan- 
tage. Men  are  finding  this  true  of  their  social  environment. 
Society  is  a  complicated  affair  which  is  not  easy  to  under- 
stand and  to  manage.  Rural  communities,  as  simple  as  they 
seem,  have  complexities  and  hidden  meanings  for  the  average 
man  and  woman.  A  large  part  of  the  backwardness,  narrow- 
ness, and  unhap^iness  of  country  life  arises  from  a  lack  of 
comprehension  of  the  conditions  of  the  community  and  of 
the  relation  of  the  neighbourhood  to  the  larger  world. 

Such  a  consideration  of  the  various  phases  of  rural  life 
as  rural  sociology  gives  should  be  of  immense  value  to  the 
farmer,  to  the  rural  teacher,  and  to  the  country  preacher  and 
physician  because  of  the  light  it  throws  on  familiar  condi- 
tions. If  knowledge  is  for  adjustment  purposes,  a  compre- 
hension of  things  about  them  should  make  the  lives  of  rural 
inhabitants  better  adapted,  fuller,  and,  consequently,  happier. 

Importance  to  the  Nation  as  a  Whole. —  The  whole  nation 
should  be  interested  in  the  condition  of  every  fundamental 
part  of  the  nation.  We  are  greatly  concerned  over  the  prob- 
lem of  the  poor,  the  criminals,  and  the  defectives  because  we 
are  certain  that  these  classes  are  dangerous  to  the  larger  wel- 
fare. It  has  never  been  duly  appreciated  that  there  are  con- 
ditions in  the  life  of  the  farming  population  which  are  im- 
portant to  the  total  life  of  the  nation  or  the  state.  But  if 
the  former  classes  are  able  to  poison  the  larger  life,  any 
backward  condition  or  defective  structure  of  such  a  dominant 


8          CONSTRUCTIVE  BUBAL  SOCIOLOGY} 

and  fundamental  class  as  the  rural  inhabitanta  must  act  of 
necessity  as  a  deterrent. 

Progress  is  secured  by  means  of  those  equitable  and  dis- 
tributed changes  in  a  state  or  society  which  secure  the  right 
adjustment  of  each  part  to  the  whole  organised  life  and  per- 
mit none  to  be  exploited  by  others.  The  farmer's  advance 
does  not  mean  others'  injury,  but  his  progress  in  all  good 
things  will  contribute  to  the  general  upbuilding.  His  ad- 
vance means  the  promotion  of  the  common  good.  His  better 
education  means  the  intellectual  enrichment  of  all  other 
classes.  His  improvement  in  leadership  so  that  he  is  com- 
petent to  take  care  of  his  interests  in  county,  state,  and  nation 
will  bring  about  a  revolution  in  political  life  which  will  off- 
set the  undue  influence  of  special  privilege  in  government. 
If  the  cities  are  corrupt  and  hold  the  balance  of  power  for 
evil,  as  some  would  contend,  an  enlightened  and  strength- 
ened agricultural  vote  would  act  as  a  countervailing  influence. 

Says  ex-President  Boosevelt :  "  Our  civilisation  rests  at 
bottom  on  the  wholesomeness,  the  attractiveness,  and  the  com- 
pleteness>  as  well  as  the  prosperity,  of  life  in  the  country. 
.  .  .  Upon  the  development  of  country  life  rests  ultimately 
our  ability,  by  methods  of  farming  requiring  the  highest  in- 
telligence to  continue  to  feed  and  clothe  the  hungry  nations ; 
to  supply  the  city  with  fresh  blood,  clean  bodies,  and  clear 
brains  that  can  endure  the  terrific  strain  of  modern  life ;  we 
need  the  development  of  men  in  the  open  country,  who  will 
be  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  the  stay  and  strength  of  the 
nation  in  time  of  war,  and  its  guiding  and  controlling  spirit 
in  time  of  peace."  4 

We  may  affirm,  then,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  general  con- 
cern to  consider  the  conditions  of  rural  life  with  a  view  to 
applying  our  best  ideals  to  it,  to  understanding  it,  and  to 
cooperating  with  it  for  its  advancement  and  the  promotion 
of  the  common  good. 

*  Report  of  the  Country  Life  Commission,  p.  9.    Sturgis  &  Walton  Co. 


CHAPTER  II 

DISTINCTION"    BETWEEN    RURAL    AND    TJEBAN    COMMUNITY 

Difficulty  of  Making  the  Distinction. —  It  may  seem  ab- 
surd to  raise  the  question  of  what  constitutes  a  rural  com- 
munity, and  what  differentiates  the  rural  from  the  urban 
community.  The  common  man  is  likely  to  feel  positive  that 
he  knows  what  the  city  is,  what  the  country  is  and  what  dis- 
tinguishes each  from  the  other.  It  appears  preposterous  that 
we  should  not  know  when  we  are  in  the  country  or  in  the 
city  and  exactly  where  the  boundary  line  is  which  separates 
them.  In  reality  this  is  very  much  like  the  assurance  of 
the  popular  mind  that  a  man  knows  himself,  his  nature,  his 
constitution.  For  would  it  not  be  ridiculous  to  think  that 
one  could  live  with  himself  so  long  without  coming  to  a  ripe 
knowledge  of  himself?  However,  to  the  student  of  various 
lines  of  sciences  few  things  are  more  familiar  than  that  com- 
mon facts  may  prove  hard  to  distinguish  and  to  define  for 
scientific  purposes. 

The  difficulty  of  drawing  hard  and  fast  lines  between  do- 
mains appears  in  classifying  the  sciences.  For  example,  it 
is  not  easy  to  differentiate  between  certain  phases  of  history 
and  political  science,  or  between  history  and  economics. 
The  distinction  between  the  sciences  rests  on  the  aim  and 
interest  of  the  scientific  worker.  Investigators  of  the  differ- 
ent sciences  often  handle  the  same  objects  and  matter.  But 
since  they  have  different  interests  to  serve  they  gain  different 
ideas  from  considering  the  same  things  and  build  distinct 
systems  of  knowledge  as  a  consequence.  A  science  is  built 
on  the  foundation  of  a  particular  point  of  view. 

,9 


10        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

Likewise  it  is  conceivable  that  what  would  be  a  city  for 
some  intellectual  purposes  would  not  be  for  other  purposes. 
The  same  is  true  for  the  country.  There  are  some  aggrega- 
tions of  populations,  however,  which  could  never  serve  as 
country  and  some  country  regions  which  could  never  serve 
as  city.  We  may  at  least  refuse  to  be  surprised  if  the  task 
of  distinguishing  the  city  from  the  rural  community  should 
develop  difficulties. 

Distinction  Based  on  Population. —  Census  takers  and  stat- 
isticians group  populations  under  the  headings  of  urban  or 
city  and  rural  or  country.  This  has  been  done  in  the  United 
States  at  each  decennial  census  since  the  first  one  in  1790. 

Until  recently  cities  composed  only  those  aggregations  of 
population  having  at  least  8,000  inhabitants.  But  it  was  per- 
ceived that  smaller  aggregations  contained  essentially  urban 
conditions.  Hence  the  census  of  1900  makes  three  classes 
of  population:  (1),  urban,  places  of  4,000  or  more  people, 
together  with  1,158  ~New  England  towns  which  have  been 
taken  to  represent  the  urban  element;  (2),  semi-urban,  9,553 
incorporations  having  less  than  4,000  inhabitants  and  more 
than  2,500;  (3),  rural,  or  purely  country  region,  including 
villages  and  small  centres  of  population  of  less  than  2,500 
people.  The  census  of  1910  accepts  and  uses  the  2,500  limit 
as  the  boundary  line  between  the  districts  it  considers  rural 
and  urban. 

Distinction  Based  on  Function. —  Definitions  of  the  city 
have  been  made  by  writers  which  have  been  based  on  abstract 
specialness  of  the  activity  taken  into  consideration  independ- 
ent of  its  concrete  content ;  and  also,  by  more  careful  writers 
based  upon  definite,  determined  and  concrete  activities,  and 
notably  certain  industrial  activities.  Thus  Adam  Smith 
said :  1  "  Cities  are  inhabited  chiefly  by  artisans  and  trades- 
peoples."  Sombart  said  cities  are  "  aggregations  of  men  de- 
pendent upon  the  products  of  outside  agricultural  labour  for 

i "  Wealth  of  Nations/5  Bk.  Ill,  Chap.  3. 


EUEAL  AND  UEBAN  COMMUNITY  11 

their  subsistence."  Both  of  these  ideas  are  true  only  of  mod- 
ern cities.  Agriculture  has  held  a  definite  place  in  certain 
cities  and  centres. 

The  cities  of  ancient  times  were  generally  consumption 
cities,  even  the  greatest  of  them.  The  history  of  the  local- 
isation of  industries  shows  that  industrial  activities  are  rela- 
tive to  place  and  time.  But  in  modern  times,  and  especially 
in  advanced  nations,  the  functional  characteristics  are  large 
factors  in  distinguishing  municipal  communities.  They  are 
largely  what  Sinith  and  Sombart  said:  aggregations  of  arti- 
sans and  tradespeople  who  are  dependent  on  outside  agricul- 
ture for  subsistence. 

This  is  defining  the  city  in  terms  of  the  function  of  the 
inhabitants  rather  than  in  those  of  the  city  itself.  It  is  quite 
possible  to  conceive  the  city  in  its  collective  aspect  to  possess 
and  exercise  functions  which  the  rural  community  does  not 
have.  The  city  undertakes  to  do  many  things  which  are  left 
to  the  citizen  in  the  country.  Water,  light,  drainage,  sew- 
age disposal,  parks,  etc.,  are  a  few  of  the  distinctly  city  un- 
dertakings. These  are,  however,  special  undertakings  mostly 
of  modern  times. 

Distinction  Based  on  Social  Mediation. —  One  of  the  es- 
sential distinctions  between  city  and  country  lies  in  the  differ- 
ence in  the  degree  to  which  their  inhabitants  depend  on  the 
existence  of  social  machinery  as  a  transmitting  agency  in 
their  business.  The  farmer  produces  to  make  a  living  and 
follows  a  business  which  is  extractive  in  nature.  His  mate- 
rials are  first  degree  materials.  He  deals  with  nature  and 
her  resources  directly,  without  the  mediation  of  others.  City 
dwellers,  on  the  other  hand,  in  prosecuting  their  business 
activities  and  in  so  far  as  they  handle  material  goods,  deal 
with  nature  indirectly.  What  they  work  up  is  in  the  sec- 
ond, third,  or  a  greater  degree  removed  from  its  original  f onm 
It  has  been  shaped  up  and  handled  by  other  agencies.  A 
vast  array  of  social  organisation  stands  in  between  them  and 


12         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

its  source  in  nature.  The  material  the  urbanite  works  upon 
and  the  goods  he  consumes  are  thus  mediated  to  him  by  way 
of  this  social  mechanism. 

To  say  this  is  not  to  ignore  the  fact  that  the  farmer  of  to- 
day is  also  dependent  on  social  organisation  for  obtaining  the 
tools  and  implements  he  uses  in  production.  Nor  is  it  to 
deny  that  the  modern  agriculturist  produces  for  the  world 
at  large  rather  than  for  himself;  in  the  sense  that  what  he 
produces  is  consumed  by  others  rather  than  by  himself.  In 
fact  he  consumes  a  minimum  of  what  he  produces,  and,  gen- 
erally, this  little  is  worked  upon  and  refined  by  others  in 
society  and  returned  to  him  in  another  form  for  consump- 
tion. Originally  the  farmer  produced  about  everything  he 
used.  The  household  was  almost  self-sufficing.  But  the 
modern  transportation  and  industrial  system  has  placed  him 
in  contact  with  society  and  made  him  dependent  on  it  as  a 
producer  and  consumer. 

Distinction  Based  on  Associational  Life. —  We  have  to-day 
a  simple  terminology  to  classify  communities  according  to 
their  simplicity  or  complexity;  namely,  farm,  village,  city. 
Historically  the, growth  into  city  life  has  been  first  family, 
then  horde  or  clan,  the  members  of  which  lived  together,  pos- 
sibly in  a  communal  house  and  composed  of  a  set  of  related 
families.  This  presents  the  urban  community  of  about  the 
simplest  type  or  is  the  beginning  of  the  village.  Later  came 
the  city  with  its  aggregation  of  unrelated  families,  yet  having 
a  unity  of  its  own  arising  out  of  the  necessary  interdepend- 
ence. 

To-day  we  can  see  that  the  city  is  a  complex  thing.  It  is 
a  complexity  of  occupations,  of  trade  groups  and  professional 
groups,  of  social  structures  with  their  accompanying  func- 
tions. In  this  aspect  the  city  is  a  social  fact,  that  is,  it  is  a 
complex,  community  composed  of  a  number  of  secondary 
groups.  This  associational  life  not  only  registers  a  much 
intenser  complexity  than  rural  life  in  the  matter  of  groups, 


EUEAL  AND  URBAN  COMMUNITY  13 

but  it  has  certain  accompanying  interests  which  give  it  * 
characteristic  mark  of  its  own. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  place  to  begin  to  find  the  differ- 
ential between  social  groups  and  to  establish  the  right  point 
of  view  for  the  comparative  psychology  of  contemporaneous 
as  well  as  of  primitive  aggregations  is  a  study  of  the  occupa- 
tions. This  is  held  to  be  obvious  because  they  reflect  the 
condition  of  mind  brought  on  in  an  attempt  to  strike  a  proper 
and  fruitful  adjustment  to  the  environment.  As  a  conse- 
quence a  consideration  and  comparison  of  the  occupations  of 
urban  and  rural  regions  might  reveal  the  psychical  traits  and 
marks  peculiar  to  each.  Says  Professor  John  Dewey, 
"  Occupations  determine  the  fundamental  modes  of  activity, 
and  hence  control  the  formation  and  use  of  habits.  These 
habits,  in  turn,  are  something  more  than  practical  and  overt. 
'  Apperceptive  masses '  and  associational  tracts  of  necessity 
conform  to  the  dominant  activities.  The  occupations  deter- 
mine the  chief  of  satisfaction,  the  standards  of  success  and 
failure.  Hence  they  furnish  the  working  classification  and 
definitions  of  value ;  they  control  the  desire  processes.  More- 
over they  decide  the  sets  of  objects  and  relations  that  are 
important,  and  thereby  provide  the  content  or  material  of 
attention,  and  the  qualities  that  are  interestingly  significant. 
The  directions  given  to  mental  life  thereby  extend  to  emo- 
tional and  intellectual  characteristics.  So  fundamental  and 
pervasive  is  the  group  of  occupational  activities  that  it  affects 
the  scheme  or  pattern  of  the  structural  organisation  of  mental 
traits.  Occupations  integrate  special  elements  into  a  func- 
tioning whole."  2 

The  hunting  group  or  stage  of  primitive  society  illustrates 
this  principle.  The  dominant  pursuit  of  the  chase  stamped 
itself  so  deeply  upon  the  primitive  social  structure  that  it 
dominates  lines  of  attention  and  reaction,  along  with  many  in- 
cidental interests.  Further,  the  methods  and  ways  of  reacting 

2  Psychological  Review,  9:  217  ff. 


14        CONSTKUCTIVE  RUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

become  a  part  of  social  heredity  and  manifest  themselves  in 
our  current  civilisation. 

'Now  if  we  should  seek  to  apply  this  point  of  view  to  the 
matter  in  hand  we  doubtless  would  obtain  important  results. 
The  fact  will  be  treated  later  that  individualities  are  the  out- 
come of  industrial  and  occupational  activities  and  specialisa- 
tions. Here  we  are  interested  in  the  obverse  side,  that  the 
group  which  centres  about  some  objective  interest  gets  its 
community  individuality  transformed. 

Distinction  Based  on  Density  of  Group  Living  Within  a 
Definite  and  Given  Area. —  Every  community  has  a  certain 
localisation.  Even  a  tribe  or  a  clan,  which  are  more  or  less 
personal  aggregations,  are  localised,  though  not  strictly  nor 
so  essentially  as  incorporations.  A  rural  community  may  be 
and  generally  is  localised.  But  the  essential  difference  be- 
tween the  city  and  country  in  this  respect  is  that  the  city 
is  a  community  which,  relative  to  its  human  contents  or 
density,  occupies  an  especially  limited  area.  To  be  sure, 
there  are  no  absolute  limits  to  this.  The  density  and  size 
of  cities  vary  greatly.  Whether  there  is  to  be  a  limit  to  the 
size  of  cities  there  is  a  bound  to  their  density  beyond  which 
they  cannot  pass.  Says  Bookwalter,  "  The  marked  charac- 
teristic that  distinguishes  these  two  groups,  so  innately  differ- 
ent in  nature,  is  the  capacity  of  the  one  for  unlimited  growth 
and  development,  and  the  want  of  a  like  power  of  indefinite 
expansion  in  the  other."  3  The  groups  spoken  of  are  "  those 
essentially  distinct  and  different  groups  of  labour  which  nat- 
urally generate  from  the  collection  of  a  given  number  of  agri- 
cultural units  into  the  concrete  form  of  a  village  or  town."  4 

The  average  density  of  open  country  regions  in  the  United 
States  differs  from  section  to  section  and  state  to  state.  In 
"New  England  and  the  eastern  states  generally  a  sqvi^-  •:  die 
is  likely  to  contain  from  20  to  175  inhabitants.  ;  :>re 

s  "  Rural  Versus  Urban,"  p.  55.    The  Knickerbocker  I  10. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  54. 


EUKAL  AND  UKBAN  COMMUNITY    15 

western  states  it  may  contain  from  one  to  four  or  five  fam- 
ilies, and  in  some  new  states  the  population  is  even  less  than 
this. 

On  the  other  hand,  city  density  may  run  very  high,  and 
generally  goes  into  the  thousands  per  square  mile.  Thus 
New  York  County,  New  York,  in  1900,  contained  2,050,600 
inhabitants  in  an  area  of  63  square  miles,  which  was  a  den- 
sity of  32,200.  This  density  is  produced  by  New  York 
City,  much  of  which  lies  in  New  York  County.  Chicago 
has  a  much  less  density.  It  is  fairly  well  coextensive  with 
Cook  County,  Illinois.  In  1900  that  county  had  a  popula- 
tion of  1,838,735  persons.  Its  area  was  993  square  miles. 
The  density  was,  therefore,  nearly  1,852. 

Distinction  Based  on  the  Character  of  the  Problems  Aris- 
ing in  the  Community. —  Whether  or  not  the  difference  in 
communities  based  on  a  distinction  between  the  problems  and 
issues  arising  for  solution  is  fundamental,  it  is  at  least  im- 
portant. It  seems  to  be  quite  as  fundamental  as  the  dis- 
tinction based  on  differences  in  density.  Density  is  only  a 
fact,  although  it  may  be  a  cause  of  problems  and  issues.  But 
differences  in  density  in  itself  is  not  a  primary  cause  of  such 
phenomena.  Problems  and  issues  which  modern  cities  have 
to  face  are  facts,  and  as  such  may  be  considered  more  or  less 
relatively  distinguishing  characteristics.  Some  of  these 
modern  problems  and  issues  are  connected  with  congestion  of 
population,  water  supply,  light,  sewage  disposal,  sidewalks, 
pavements,  maintenance  of  parks,  libraries,  and  theatres,  in- 
dustrial disturbances  such  as  strikes  and  lockouts,  misgov- 
ernment  in  the  shape  of  the  industrialisation  of  government 
or  politics,  and  other  phenomena. 

Not  all  of  these  are  entirely  peculiar  to  the  city.  As  we 
shall  nee  later,  the  water  supply  may  be  menaced  in  the  coun- 
try, although  it  seldom  calls  for  collective  action.  Roads  in 
the  country  correspond  to  pavements  in  cities,  though  the 
problem  is  generally  less  intense  and  imperative.  Libraries 


16         CONSTKUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

may  come  to  be  considered  as  essential  to  country  life  as  to 
city,  as  also  may  some  form  of  amusement  and  recreation 
corresponding  to  the  theatre.  Strikes  and  lockouts,  calling 
for  community  interference  have  been  quite  foreign  to  rural 
regions,  though  "larger  farming"  seem  to  be  developing 
them.  Misgovernment  has  often  afflicted  the  latter,  yet  by 
reason  of  local  lethargy  and  indifference,  or  because  of  boss 
and  machine  domination,  rather  than  because  of  the  pro- 
jection of  special  interests  into  politics. 

In  some  cases,  then,  it  appears  that  the  distinction  is  nearly 
absolute,  while  in  other  cases  it  is  one  of  degree. 

Distinction  Based  on  Types  of  Individuals,  or  of  Individ- 
uality Developed. —  The  industrial,  commercial,  and  pro- 
fessional specialisation  which  is  carried  on  so  extensively  in 
modern  cities  has  created  types  of  individuality  which  are 
peculiar  to  these  modern  aggregations.  If  character  and 
qualities  are  the  outcome  of  habits,  and  if  habits  are  the  out- 
come of  reactions  to  particular  environments,  it  is  evident 
that  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  habitual  reactions 
and  points  of  view  of  city  and  country  people.  "  Not  only 
is  language  a  group  matter,  but  the  range  of  thoughts  pos- 
sessed and  used  by  any  group  is  limited,  and  characterises 
one  group  in  distinction  from  another.  The  teacher  im- 
presses his  mind  on  the  school,  the  fatker  on  the  family,  and 
the  family  or  school  becomes  an  intellectual  group  by  itself. 
.  .  .  Only  members  of  the  same  group  can  really  understand 
each  other.  The  same  holds  true  in  different  ages."  5 

There  is  a  decided  differentiation  between  rural  and  urban 
inhabitants  in  this  respect.  Thus  we  may  say  that  the  type 
in  the  country  is  simple  and  generally  single.  We  have  a 
farmer  type  based  on  agricultural  interests  and  growing  out 
of  adjustments  to  those  interests.  In  the  cities,  as  we  have 
seen,  there  are  diverse  occupations  and  vocations.  Thus 
there  are  the  professions,  the  various  forms  of  commerce  and 

«  Fairbanks,  "  Introduction  to  Sociology,"  p.  105. 


RURAL  AISTD  URBiA^  COMMUNITY  17 

trade,  and  the  many  kinds  of  industry  and  skilled  activity. 
Each  of  these  has  its  centre  of  absorbing  interest  and  con- 
tent of  information  about  the  interest  involved ;  and  it  has  its 
habits  and  reactions  which  are  moulded  into  a  type  to  corre- 
spond to  the  calling.  These  various  types  constitute  the  more 
complex  individualities  of  urban  communities. 

We  are  not  dealing  with  ultimate  things  in  this  discus- 
sion. For  practical  and  psychological  purposes  these  in- 
dividualities differ  from  each  other  in  obvious  ways.  It  is 
common  knowledge  that  the  individuals  of  these  types  do  not 
easily  mix  in  a  social  way.  It  is  difficult  for  them  to  keep 
up  an  extended  conversation  with  each  other.  Their  ideas 
are  about  different  ranges  of  facts,  and  their  points  of  view 
do  not  harmonise.  Habits  and  standards  of  living  diverge. 
Hence,  the  consciousness  of  kind  between  types  is  pale  and 
diffused. 

Distinction  Based  on  Collective  Mind. —  The  collective 
mind  is  a  different  concept  from  the  individual  mind.  We 
may  know,  somewhat  approximately,  what  to  expect  of  in- 
dividuals acting  separately  in  given  circumstances.  What 
the  collective  action,  emanating  from  the  same  individuals 
constituted  as  a  crowd,  would  be  is  more  difficult  to  predict. 
It  is  probable  that  density  of  population,  the  congregating 
of  nationalities  and  races,  and  the  cultural  stimuli,  to  be 
found  in  cities,  are  factors  which  might  be  expected  to  pro- 
duce a  type  of  collective  mind  that  is  distinct  from  that  of 
the  open  country. 

Whether  city  or  country  is  more  prone  to  mob-mindedness 
is  a  pertinent  consideration.  This  has  been  discussed  by 
Giddings  and  Ross. 

Ross  says :  "  It  has  long  been  recognised  that  the  be- 
haviour of  city  populations  under  excitement  shows  the 
familiar  characteristics  of  the  mob,  quite  apart  from  any 
thronging.  Here  we  get  unanimity,  impulsiveness,  exaggera- 
tion of  feeling,  excessive  credulity,  fickleness,  inability  to  rea- 


18         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

son,  and  sudden  alternations  of  boldness  and  cowardice. 
Here,  indeed,  are  the  chief  counts  in  the  indictments  which 
historians  have  drawn  against  the  city  democracies  of  old 
Greece  and  mediaeval  Italy."  All  this  is  made  possible  by 
means  of  the  easy  communication  of  individuals,  the  quick 
contact  of  mind  with  mind,  and  manifests  itself  in  booms, 
panics,  strikes,  mobs,  and  speculative  manias.  On  the  other 
hand,  Giddings  calls  attention  to  the  greater  excitability  of 
country  populations.  He  says,  "  There  have  been  scenes  of 
wild  violence  in  Paris  and  London;  there  have  been  draft 
and  other  riots  in  New  York  City ;  but  the  collective  violence 
in  all  the  great  cities  of  Europe  and  America  for  two  hundred 
years  would  not  make  a  great  comparison  with  the  epidemics 
of  emotion  —  accompanied  by  dancing  and  other  manias  — 
that  surged  through  rural  communities  in  connection  with 
the  great  revival  movements  under  the  Wesleyans,  the  later 
revivals  of  1837  and  1857,  the  insurrections  like  Shay's  Re- 
bellion and  the  Whiskey  Rebellion,  the  Ku  Klux  Clan  out- 
rages, the  Vigilance  Committee  activities,  the  conflict  between 
Gentiles  and  Mormons,  the  White  Cap  outrages,  and  the 
lynchings  in  our  Western  and  Southern  states."  6 

The  truth  is  likely  to  lie  in  the  statement  that  the  more 
heterogeneous  the  population  of  the  cities  becomes  the  less 
are  they  beset  by  mob-mindedness,  whereas  the  homogeneity 
of  rural  populations  make  them  susceptible  to  certain  forms 
of  mental  manias  and  violent  manifestations  under  given  con- 
ditions. It  can  hardly  be  held  that  our  Northern  and  West- 
ern communities  of  the  agricultural  sort  offer  many  or 
intense  manifestations  of  the  mob  spirit. 

Conclusion. —  A  recent  writer,  in  an  effort  to  define  the 
city  in  its  essential  and  historical  characteristics,  has  empha- 
sised the  morphological  characteristics  as  the  true  line  of 
demarkation.  His  definition  is  interesting.  It  is  this: 
"  The  city  then  is  a  complex  community  of  which  the  geo- 

«  Ross,  "  Social  Psychology,"  pp.  58-60. 


RUEAL  AND  URBAN  COMMUNITY    19 

graphical  localisation  is  especially  limited  in  relation  to  the 
city's  size  (volume),  of  which  the  amount  of  territory  is 
relatively  small  with  reference  to  the  number  of  human  be- 
ings."7 

That  is,  the  morphological  qualities  are  the  ones  which 
historically  have  distinguished  city  and  country.  This  com- 
plexity consists  in  the  increasing  association  and  multiplica- 
tion of  groups  of  social  elements  within  a  restricted  area. 
But  since  our  purpose  is  limited  to  a  consideration  of  modern 
communities  only,  we  are  not  bound  by  this  historical  dis- 
tinction, however  true  to  fact  it  may  be.  We  are  obliged  to 
take  into  consideration  all  the  observable  peculiarities  which 
mark  off  one  community  from  the  others. 

Probably  all  of  the  things  we  have  mentioned  must  be  taken 
into  account  in  determining  the  line  of  demarkation  between 
urban  and  rural  communities.  Without  question  the  com- 
plexity and  interdependence  of  functions  of  the  individuals 
and  groups  which  constitute  cities,  together  with  the  peculiar 
character  of  those  functions,  lie  at  the  centre  of  any  attempt 
to  establish  a  criterion  of  cities,  and  vice  versa,  of  the  coun- 
try districts. 

7  Ren6  Maunier,  "  The  Definition  of  the  City,"  Amer.  Jour.  Sociology, 
15:545. 

REFERENCES 

Bookwalter.     "Rural  Versus  Urban,"  Chap.  4. 

Smith,  Adam.     "  Wealth  of  Nations,"  Bk.  Ill,  Chap.  3. 

Dewey,  John.  "Interpretation  of  the  Savage  Mind,"  Psychol.  Rev., 
9:217-30. 

Fairbanks,  Arthur.     "Introduction  to  Sociology,"  Chap.  5. 

Maunier,  Rene1.  "The  Definition  of  the  City,"  Amer.  Jour.  Soc., 
15:  536-49. 

Twelfth  Census.    "Population,"  Vol.  I:lxxsi  and  Ixxxix. 

"Abstract  of  Twelfth  Census,"  p.  lOOff. 

Ross.    "  Social  Psychology,"  pp.  28-30,  and  224-30. 


CHAPTEE  III 

TYPES    OF    COMMUNITIES    AS    RESULTS    OF    THE    DIFFERENTIA- 
TING   EFFECTS    OF    ENVIRONMENT 

Other  Than  Physical  Environment. —  It  might  be  expected 
that  there  would  be  variations  among  rural  communities.  As 
a  fact  not  all  are  alike.  Neighbourhoods  possess  individuali- 
ties which  in  some  cases  are  very  pronounced.  In  broad 
terms  we  may  say  that  these  distinctive  traits  are  the  products 
of  differences  in  environment.  By  the  term  environment  as 
used  here  is  meant  not  only  the  physical  but  also  the  occupa- 
tional and  historical  conditions.  The  last  two  are  the  factors 
which  society  itself  furnishes  in  large  measure,  although  occu- 
pations of  a  given  region,  to  a  considerable  degree,  are  deter- 
mined by  the  region.  The  historical  factor  is  completely  in 
the  social  environment.  It  constitutes  what  is  more  com- 
monly alluded  to  in  sociology  as  "  social  heredity." 

There  are  certain  regions  of  the  United  States  where  the 
historical  factor  plays  an  imperative  part  in  determining 
what  the  community  shall  be.  This  is  notably  the  case  in 
the  older  regions,  as  among  ]STew  England  hills,  where  custom 
is  so  strong  that  old  ways  are  kept  up  in  the  face  of  advan- 
tageous inventions  and  processes.  It  is  even  more  impres- 
sively seen  in  the  southeastern  portion  of  our  country,  where 
the  institution  of  slavery  existed  up  to  the  end  of  the  Civil 
War.  The  customs,  points  of  view,  prejudices,  race  animosi- 
ties, and  many  social  conditions  which  were  the  offspring  of 
slavery,  exist  to  influence  and  direct  the  currents  of  present 
life. 

Without  attempting  to  draw  the  boundary  line  with  fine 
-distinction  between  the  physical  and  social  causes  of  the  dif- 

20 


TYPES  OF  COMMUNITIES  21 

ferences  we  will  seek  to  locate  and  describe  several  of  the 
types  and  sub-types  to  which  these  agencies  give  rise.  This 
is  undertaken  with  some  hesitancy.  It  is  a  new  task  and 
the  primary  effort  is  likely  to  be  crude  and  open  to  criticism. 
However,  it  is  apparent  that  the  distinctions  exist  and  it 
may  be  of  some  value  to  outline  them. 

I.    PUBE   AGKICULTURAL    TYPE 

What  may  be  designated  as  the  pure  agricultural  type 
exists  wherever  agricultural  pursuits  occupy  the  whole  atten- 
tion and  energy  of  the  community,  as  was  previously  estab- 
lished. Psychologically,  types  of  societies  are  fixed  by 
occupations,  because  they  determine  interests,  organisation, 
outlook,  and  kind  of  culture. 

It  is  also  true  that  certain  effects  of  a  collective  and  neigh- 
bourhood nature  likewise  arise  out  of  the  forms  of  under- 
taking which  vary  from  rural  community  to  rural  community. 
Some  of  the  effects  we  have  knowledge  of.  Analogically  we 
have  a  right  to  infer  that  corresponding  results  ensue  from 
those  forms  whose  consequences  we  do  not  as  yet  know 
intimately. 

Under  the  pure  agricultural  type  is  to  be  noted  the  exist- 
ence of  several  sub-types.  As  to  origin  these  arise  out  of 
variations  in  the  form  of  the  products.  Let  us  list  some  of 
the  more  cognisable  sub-types  and  notice  certain  of  the  im- 
portant results  which  come  out  of  their  accompanying  activ- 
ities. 

Exclusively  Small  Grain  Raising  Community. —  Some  of 
the  conditions  of  the  production  of  small  grains  in  the  United 
States  are  the  following: 

(1)  Only  a  small  part  of  the  year  is  actually  spent  in 
productive  activity.  Seeding,  harvesting,  and  threshing  are 
the  active  periods.  Between  them  are  long  periods  of  in- 
activity. The  result  is  extensive  leisure  for  the  men,  there 
being  no  subsidiary  or  incidental  work  carried  on  in  connec- 


22         COSTSTKUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

tion  with  grain  raising.  (2)  Production  takes  place  by 
means  of  mechanical  devices  which  make  this  form  of  agri- 
culture almost  an  industrial  occupation  of  the  skilled  sort. 
(3)  Expansive  cultivation  is  dominant,  large  areas  being 
depended  on  for  adequate  returns,  rather  than  small  areas 
with  intensive  culture.  (4)  Because  of  the  large  area  of  the 
land  tilled  the  homes  are  necessarily  widely  separated.  This 
imposes  a  consequent  social  isolation. 

There  are  certain  social  and  individual  results  which  come 
from  or  are  related  to  those  conditions. 

(1)  There  is  a  generally  high  intelligence.  This  is  partly 
historical,  but  tends  to  come  from  stimulated  and  necessary 
reading,  from  intercourse  and  discussion  with  those  of  like 
interest,  and  from  the  mechanical  and  semi-industrialised 
character  of  the  occupation.  (2)  Spasmodic  cooperation  un- 
dertakings obtain,  such  as  the  Farmer's  Equity  Association, 
etc.  (3)  Social  life  for  the  family  is  largely  wanting,  es- 
pecially for  the  wives  and  mothers.  This  is  due  to  the  isola- 
tion just  noted. 

Exclusively  Corn-Raising  Community —  As  consisting  of  a 
single  form  of  crop,  a  staple  which  is  available  to  serve  as 
food  for  man,  various  domestic  animals  and  fowls,  the  pure 
corn-community  does  not  largely  exist.  When,  however, 
poultry,  swine,  and  cattle  are  kept  on  the  farm  as  incidental 
means  of  furnishing  food  for  the  household  the  form  of  pro- 
duction might  be  regarded  as  of  the  pure  type. 

Some  of  the  conditions  which  accompany  corn  culture  are 
these: 

(1)  Quite  incessant  labour  takes  place  from  early  spring 
when  the  ground  is  broken  up  and  crops  put  in,  through  a 
period  of  cultivation,  till  the  garnering  is  completed  in  the 
fall  or  early  winter.  There  is  an  interim  between  "  laying 
by  "  corn  and  "  gathering  "  it  in  which  it  does  not  demand 
attention.  But  haying  and  other  incidental  matters  usually 
occupy  this  period.  (2)  Leisure  for  the  men  is  conspicuous 


TYPES  OF  COMMUNITIES  23 

during  a  more  or  less  protracted  winter.  (3)  The  individual 
areas  under  cultivation  are  smaller  than  in,  small-grain  grow- 
ing, with  a  consequent  closer  proximity  of  homes.  (4)  The 
labour  processes  are  mostly  mechanical  with  the  exception  of 
husking  and  shovelling,  and  the  incidental  choring.  (5) 
There  is  necessarily  much  choring  due  to  the  maintenance 
of  cows,  hogs,  chickens,  and  sometimes  fruit,  bees,  and  gar- 
dens. 

The  effects  of  the  foregoing  conditions  on  life  and  society 
are  essentially  and  generally  as  follows : 

(1)  Relatively  high  intelligence,  especially  in  the  more 
progressive  regions  of  the  United  States  where  more  advanced 
methods  are  followed.  (2)  The  existence  of  considerable 
neighbourhood  social  activities,  especially  among  the  women, 
and  of  neighbourhood  cooperation.  Dances,  spelling  matches, 
husking  bees,  are  familiar  forms  of  association.  (3)  A 
larger  amount  of  the  collective  sort  of  play  among  the  chil- 
dren of  a  neighbourhood  takes  place  than  in  the  small-grain 
type.  This  arises  from  the  proximity  of  homes. 

Cotton-Raising  Community. —  Cotton  production,  either  as 
an  exclusive  or  as  the  leading  business,  dominates  the  atten- 
tion, agriculturally,  of  the  whole  southeastern  portion  of  the 
United  States.  Production  maps  define  the  area  as  the  "  Cot- 
ton Belt."  Cotton  is  one  of  the  most  important  crops  and 
articles  of  export  of  the  nation.  Both  physical  and  social 
conditions  have  set  aside  this  area  to  the  production  of  the 
white  fibre. 

Climate,  soil,  and  topographical  conditions  originally  fa- 
voured the  establishment  of  slavery  in  the  South.  When 
about  to  be  eliminated  by  the  operation  of  natural  and  his- 
torical causes  the  invention  of  Whitney's  gin  renewed  and 
multiplied  the  value  of  slave  labour  in  the  culture  of  cotton, 
which  then  became  "  king."  In  a  peculiarly  close  manner, 
cotton  and  the  South,  slave  labour  and  cotton  culture  entered 
into  association  with  each  other.  The  Civil  War  eliminated 


24:         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY; 

slavery,  but  it  could  not  eliminate  the  partnership  previously 
formed.  ISTegro  labour  continued  to  be  the  mainstay  of  the 
South  in  the  raising  of  cotton.  Custom  prevented  the  de- 
parture of  the  blacks  from  the  seat  of  their  enslavement. 

Separate  maps  localising  these  geographical  features, 
namely,  the  densest  negro  population,  the  richest  soil,  a 
topography  of  level  plains,  and  the  chief  cotton  regions,  would 
cover  almost  the  same  territory.  This  indicates  the  close 
connection  existing  between  the  several  factors.  Race  prej- 
udice, chiefly  on  the  side  of  the  whites,  serves  as  an  obstacle 
to  the  rise  in  social  and  economic  matters  on  the  part  of  the 
negroes.  Historical  situations  which  it  took  generations  to 
create  are  too  profound  to  be  eradicated  in  a  generation* 
Thus  the  "  cotton  belt "  remains 'peculiarly  devoted  to  "  King 
Cotton,"  because  of  social  conditions  as  well  as  by  reason  of 
the  physical  inducements. 

The  more  prominent  conditions  which  accompany  cotton 
production  may  be  observed  generally  throughout  the  south- 
ern states. 

(1)  Either  large  farms  or  plantations  exist  with  many 
negro  labourers  operating  under  a  manager;  or  there  are  in 
existence  many  small  cotton  farms  with  renters;  in  some 
cases  with  owners.  A  common  landscape  in  the  cotton  belt 
is  a  wide  level  tract  of  tilled  land,  dotted  every  few  hundred 
yards  with  negro  cabins.  These  are  set  in  the  midst  of  cot- 
ton fields,  the  ground  about  them  being  tilled  by  the  occu- 
pants. Most  of  them  have  but  one  door,  and  a  small  square 
opening  in  one  wall  serves  for  a  window.  (2)  Much  or  most 
of  the  labour  of  producing  cotton  is  done  by  hand.  Small, 
one-horse  ploughs  are  frequent.  The  hoe  is  a  conspicuous 
farm  implement.  Cotton  picking  is  done  by  hand,  although  a 
mechanical  cotton-picker  is  in  the  commercial  field.  The 
ginning  and  bailing  is  performed  by  means  of  machinery. 
(3)  The  operation  of  the  credit  and  lien  systems  by  man- 
agers and  storekeepers  serves  to  keep  the  negro  renter  con- 


TYPES  OF  COMMUNITIES  25 

tinually  in  debt  and  in  practical  serfdom.  (4)  Unemploy- 
ment between  crops,  and  between  laying  by  and  picking 
cotton,  offers  an  opportunity  for  loafing. 

Some  of  the  effects  of  associate  conditions  are: 
(1)  There  is  a  generally  low  intelligence  of  the  workers 
and  their  families,  due  to  the  social  inheritance  and  to  the 
backward  agricultural  methods  in  use.  (2)  Especially  is 
there  shiftlessness,  hopelessness,  and  unprofitable  leisure  on 
the  part  of  the  mass  of  negro  labourers.  (3)  Much  social 
life,  particularly  on  plantations,  exists  of  the  noisy,  boisterous 
sort.  Revivals  and  dances  are  especially  popular.  (4) 
Some  cooperation  occurs  on  the  part  of  neighbour  farmers  in 
the  cotton-picking  season. 

In  a  similar  manner  various  other  forms  of  the  pure  type 
of  agricultural  community  might  be  described.  The  task 
awaits  the  hand  of  those  who  are  familiar  with  life  under 
those  conditions.  Thus  we  would  have  fruit  raising,  stock 
raising,  market  gardening,  dairying,  and  perhaps  other  lines 
of  agricultural  operation  as  varieties.  Each  variety,  by  the 
very  force  of  conditions  surrounding  the  activities  of  the  per- 
sons engaged  in  it,  would  offer  a  community  which,  in  certain 
respects,  differs  from  other  communities. 

II.    THE   MIXEP-AGBICITLTTJRAI.   TYPE 

Diversification  of  Industry. —  Many  of  the  agricultural 
communities  of  the  United  States  constitute  what  may  well 
be  called  the  mixed-agricultural  type.  This  exists  wherever 
there  is  a  considerable  combination  in  the  production  of 
crops.  The  life  of  the  people  is  modified  to  the  degree  to 
which  the  combination  is  made  and  their  interests  are  affected. 
Some  of  the  essential  traits  in  the  modes  of  life  of  the  pro- 
ducers follow  from  the  characteristics  of  the  type  of  occupa- 
tion. Thus  we  have 'as  varieties  of  this  type  the  following 
combinations :  grain  and  stock  raising,  dairying  and  agricul- 
ture, lumbering,  and  farming. 


26        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

In  this  mixed  type  there  is  to  be  noted  a  transition  toward 
a  more  complex  social  and  economic  life  of  the  community. 

First.  There  is  likely  to  be  an  added  element  of  popula- 
tion and  social  stratification  by  reason  of  the  added  labour 
power.  A  hired  man  is  usually  employed,  or  in  many  cases 
a  man  with  his  family  live  on  the  place  as  hired  attendants. 

Second.  There  is  diversification  in  work  which  is  due  to 
the  combined  lines  of  pursuits.  This  is  increased  where 
either  line  is  further  diversified.  This  diversification  is  likely 
to  take  the  farm  residents  into  contact  with  the  outside  world 
more  frequently. 

Third.  There  is  increased  permanency  and  continuity  in 
occupation. 

Fourth.  In  older  communities  social  stratification  is  likely 
to  take  place  on  lines  of  employer  and  employed.  Where 
there  are  renters  this  forms  on  lines  of  land-owner  and  rent- 
ers. These  dividing  lines  tend  to  qualify  the  social  institu- 
tions of  the  community,  especially  the  church,  the  inferior 
classes  usually  dropping  out. 

HI.    FRONTIER   OB  PIONEJEB   TYPE 

A  Northern  Minnesota  Community. —  A  marked  distinc- 
tion in  the  life  of  communities  arises  between  well  established 
and  pioneer  communities.  By  way  of  illustration  compare 
the  two  communities  as  to  fixity  of  occupation,  homes,  schools, 
churches,  cultural  facilities,  standards  of  living,  manners, 
clothes,  and  ideals. 

Let  us  take  a  typical  community  of  Northern  Minnesota, 
as  an  illustration  of  this  type.  It  is  a  frontier  region  in  the 
northern  forests.  The  large  pines  have  been  logged  off. 
Abundance  of  basswood,  poplar,  birch,  etc.,  remain.  The 
country  is  sparsely  settled.  Most  of  the  residents  originally 
homesteaded.  Small  lakes  abound. 

The  livelihood  of  the  average  resident  is  secured  by  the 
occasional  disposal  of  cord-wood  or  logs  for  ready  money 


TYPES  OF  COMMUNITIES  27 

with  which  the  scant  supply  of  groceries,  clothes,  and  other 
articles  are  purchased  and  taxes  are  paid.  A  small  clearing 
commonly  provides  garden  products  such  as  potatoes,  beans, 
various  sorts  of  tubers  other  than  potatoes,  for  family  use 
and  occasional  sale.  The  lakes  supply  an  abundance  of  fish 
and  the  forests  occasional  game.  Fuel  may  be  had  at  will 
from  the  forests. 

The  grain  fields  of  the  Dakotas  and  Canada  offer  an  op- 
portunity to  the  young  single  men  and  to  some  heads  of 
families  to  pick  up  a  few  hundred  dollars  in  the  harvesting 
and  threshing  season.  This  pretty  nearly  finances  them  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  the  year  and  discourages  the  harder 
effort  of  subduing  the  wilderness.  Thus,  living  being  rela- 
tively easy  and  clearing  land  being  difficult,  the  reduction 
of  the  forest  lands  to  agricultural  use  is  exceedingly  slow. 

The  situation  has  influenced  the  character  of  the  people. 
They  are  generally  unambitious,  shiftless,  undependable,  and 
temporary.  Most  of  them  want  to  sell,  although  the  land  is 
of  a  fine  quality  and  will  be  valuable  when  improved.  The 
standards  of  living  are  low.  A  few  clothes,  a  little  food,  and 
the  commonest  utilities  in  the  small  homes  are  deemed  suffi- 
cient. Manners  are  crude  and  frontier,  although  most  of 
the  adults  come  from  older  communities.  Ideals  are  neces- 
sarily low.  All  are  sociable  and  ready  to  do  a  good  turn. 
The  dance  is  the  leading  social  pastime,  and  the  young  people 
walk,  ride,  or  row  many  miles  to  take  part  in  them.  Occa- 
sional picnics  are  held  and  are  well  attended.  Sunday 
School  is  kept  up  in  the  village  church  in  the  summer,  with 
intermittent  preaching.  The  church  is  decadent  and  bears 
little  relation  to  present-day  life.  The  school,  with  generally 
neat  buildings  and  grounds,  is  the  best  kept  institution  in  the 
community.  Capable  teachers  are  hard  to  secure.  Much 
fervid  oratory  and  ambitious  electioneering  is  spent  in  con- 
ducting school  elections.  The  •"  three  R's  "  receive  the  chief 
emphasis  in  the  district  school. 


28         CONSTKUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY, 


IV.    BACKWARD    COMMUNITIES 

Their  Nature  and  Location. —  In  various  parts  of  the 
United  States  are  communities  which  may  be  termed  back- 
ward, stagnant,  or  degenerate.  Like  the  others  which  have 
been  treated,  historical,  physical,  and  topographical  condi- 
tions have  conspired  to  make  them  what  they  are.  Such 
communities  may  be  identical  with  other  kinds  in  certain 
cases.  Thus  we  might  have  a  stagnant  corn  community, 
stagnant  cotton  community,  or  other  form  of  stagnant  neigh- 
bourhood. 

Examples  of  these  communities  are  found  in  New  Eng- 
land, isolated  from  the  larger  world  in  the  pockets  of  the 
hills;  in  the  hills  and  mountains  of  Arkansas  and  Missouri 
where  the  pioneer  type  of  past  generations  persist;  in  the 
adjoining  mountain  regions  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  West 
Virginia,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Alabama,  and  Georgia. 
The  latter  embrace  the  famous  people  now  known  as  the 
"mountain  whites."  Those  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  re- 
semble them  in  all  essential  characteristics,  and  doubtless 
migrated  from  the  same  general  region  and  stock  three-quar- 
ters of  a  century  ago.  New  York  and  other  states  both  east 
and  west  contain  similar  communities.  "  Dead  villages  "  so 
widely  scattered  over  the  land  also  may  be  classed  with  them. 

The  decadence  of  New  England  agriculture  as  a  patholog- 
ical condition  has  probably  been  exaggerated.  The  regret 
so  manifest  over  abandoned  farms  in  the  East  is  largely  sen- 
timental, rather  than  based  on  economic  reasons.  The  build- 
ings are  old,  ill  adapted,  and  often  deserted  because  of  farm 
consolidation.  Thus  in  the  worst  township  in  New  York  an 
investigation  showed  that  there  were  45  deserted  farmhouses 
in  the  45  square  miles,  which  was  due  to  the  fact  that  these 
farms  had  been  consolidated  with  others.  The  farms  are  in 
size  and  adaptation  traditional  rather  than  social  and  eco- 
nomic. War  or  early  settlement  made  them  small  —  prob- 


TYPES  OF  COMMUNITIES  29 

ably  too  small  for  competitive  purposes.  Due  to  diversifica- 
tion, the  eastern  states  lead  the  United  States  in  the  number 
of  products  produced  and  in  their  value  per  acre. 

The  Mountain  Whites. —  As  an  example,  the  most  exten- 
sive and  notable  backward  community  in  the  United  States 
will  be  described  in  some  fulness.  As  before  noted,  the  moun- 
tain whites  of  the  South  occupy  the  adjacent  portion  of  eight 
states,  embracing  a  region  of  some  two  or  three  million  acres. 
This  region  is  elevated  and  mountainous,  rich  in  timber  and 
mineral  deposits,  and  has  been  called  aptly  "  Appalachian 
America."  Big  Sandy,  Licking,  Kentucky,  and  Cumberland 
rivers  rise  there  as  "  creeks  "  and  flow  out ;  brawling  torrents 
in  winter,  almost  dry  in  summer.  These  streams  with  their 
tributaries  divide  the  country  into  long,  narrow  valleys  with 
their  intervening  mountain  ranges.  Travel  follows  the 
streams.  It  is  said  that  no  steamboat  can  penetrate  into  the 
Kentucky  mountains.  Until  recently  there  was  no  railroad 
in  the  region.  There  does  not  exist  a  single  well-made 
wagon  road. 

There  are  two  explanations  of  the  origin  of  the  people  of 
this  region,  who  are  so  different  from  the  mass  of  our  Amer- 
ican citizenship  as  to  have  gained  the  characterisation  of 
"  our  contemporary  ancestors,"  and  to  have  won  for  the  large 
region  the  title  of  "  a  retarded  frontier."  One  explanation 
derives  them  from  the  redemptioners  of  Colonial  times  who, 
when  set  free  by  their  masters,  would  not  remain  among 
them  to  mix  with  negro  labourers,  but  pushed  into  the  up- 
land regions  and,  separated  by  mountain  barriers,  were  lost 
to  the  influences  and  view  of  civilisation. 

The  other  account  makes  them  descendants  of  the  Colonial 
German,  Scotch,  and  French  settlers,  who  pushed  into  the 
region  before  the  Revolutionary  War  and  settled  the  elevated 
plateau.  The  persistence  of  Old  English  words  and  phrases 
inclines  us  to  accept  the  former  explanation  as  more  probably 
the  true  one. 


30         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

In  speech  they  touch  a  remote  past  There  are  no  dia- 
lects, hut  old  words  with  their  earlier  meanings  are  preserved 
in  abundance.  Many  words  come  down  from  the  time  of 
Chaucer. 

The  chief  occupations  of  the  mountain  whites  are  agricul- 
ture, distilling,  and  logging.  Corn,  oats,  and  potatoes  are 
the  principal  crops.  Tobacco,  flax,  and  cotton  are  minor 
crops.  Small  yields  are  made  because  of  the  sterile  soil  and 
poor  markets.  Farms  are  classed  as  valley,  bottom,  and  hill- 
•  side.  The  latter  kind  are  so  nearly  perpendicular  that  local 
legend  says  a  man  fell  "  out  of  his  field  and  broke  his  neck." 
Unless  it  is  forest  or  mineral,  land  is  worth  from  $3  to  $7 
per  acre.  Bottom  farms  rent  for  one-half,  hillside  for  one- 
third  the  yield,  or  50  cents  per  acre. 

Distilling  corn,  rye,  and  apples  into  "moonshine"  whis- 
key affords  about  the  only  markets  for  those  products.  This, 
together  with  a  strong  taste  for  intoxicants  and  a  lack  of 
social  intercourse,  accounts  for  the  practice  of  moonshining. 
Logging  is  an  avenue  of  activity.  In  1890  this  section  of 
country  contained  one  of  the  best  hardwood  forests.  Much 
of  the  forest  supply  has  been  exhausted. 

In  customs  and  beliefs  as  well  as  in  vestiges  of  language  the 
inhabitants  we  are  discussing  speak  of  the  past.  The  feud 
is  one  of  the  more  vicious  forms  of  ancient  customs  which 
survive.  A  suggestion  has  been  made  recently  that  this  mode 
of  conflict  had  its  origin  in  the  guerilla  conditions  which  pre- 
vailed as  a  consequence  of  the  Civil  War.  Based  on  the  law 
of  blood  revenge,  as  it  is,  it  frequently  becomes  so  bitter  that 
whole  families  are  exterminated  in  the  course  of  its  operation. 
The  use  of  intoxicants  intensifies  its  influence.  This  is  com- 
ing to  be  recognised  and  there  is  a  rising  sentiment  against 
"  moonshining,"  as  well  as  a  passage  of  restriction  laws. 

The  beliefs  and  views  of  these  mountaineers  come  down 
from  long  ago.  The  Bible  is  taken  literally,  and  the  tribal 
and  primitive  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  first  few  books 


TYPES  OF  COMMUNITIES 

of  the  Old  Testament  hold  the  preference  over  the  ethical 
teachings  of  the  later  prophets  and  of  Jesus.  The  earth  is 
supposed  to  be  square,  the  sun  to  saving  around  the  earth, 
the  Mexican  War  is  alluded  to  as  recent  history,  and  the 
Civil  War  referred  to  in  whispers.  Education  is  backward. 
Isolation  discourages  social  intercourse  or  the  progressive 
kind  of  neighbourhood  cooperation.  Hospitality  for  the 
traveller  abounds  until  abused. 

REFERENCES 

MacClintock,  S.  S.  "Kentucky  Mountaineers  and  Their  Feuds." 
American  Journal  of  Sociology,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  1-28  and  171-87. 

"  Rebound  of  the  Upland  South,"  World's  Work,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  8961. 

Bailey,  L.  H.  "The  Agricultural  Shift."  "The  State  and  the  Far- 
mer," pp.  5-54. 

Fleming,  Walter  L.  "Reorganization  of  the  Industrial  System  in 
Alabama  after  the  Civil  War."  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  Vol.  X, 
pp.  473-499. 

Turner.  "The  Significance  of  the  Frontier  in  American  History." 
"  Bullock's  Selected  Readings  in  Economics,"  Chap.  2. 

Small  and  Vincent.  "  The  Rural  Group."  "  Introduction  to  Society," 
Book  H,  Chap.  2;  "  The  Family  on  the  Farm,"  Chap.  1. 

Du  Bois,  W.  E.  B.  "  Negro  Land  Holders  in  Georgia."  "  U.  S.  La- 
bor Bulletin  "  No.  35,  pp.  335ff. ;  "  The  Negro  Farmer,"  "  Supplementary 
Analysis  of  the  12th  Census,"  pp.  511-579. 

"Poor  Whites:     New  Race  Question,"  Arena,  Vol.  XXVII,  p.  352. 

"Southern  Mountaineers,"  Bcribners,  Vol.  XXIX,  pp.  387-99  and 
556-70. 


CHAPTER  IV 

RUBAL   AJSD    UEBAIT   INCREASE  * 

It  is  commonly  estimated  that  the  cities  of  the  United 
States  are  built  up  in  population  at  the  expense  of  the  coun- 
try. If  this  is  so  it  must  have  a  very  important  bearing  on 
the  "  rural  problem."  In  so  far  as  it  is  true,  to  that  extent 
it  is  a  factor  to  be  considered  in  relation  to  the  latter. 

It  is  the  business  of  this  chapter  to  demonstrate  the  degree 
of  the  movement  from  country  to  city,  to  indicate  what  the 
significance  of  this  movement  is  for  rural  communities,  to 
seek  its  more  trenchant  causes,  and  to  touch  upon  preventive 
agencies. 

I.    FACTS   AS   TO    THE   DRIFT    TO    CITIES 

The  Fact  of  City  Growth. —  In  the  beginning  it  is  neces- 
sary to  examine  the  fact  of  city  drift  as  a  fact.  First,  it  is 
a  fact.  In  1900,  31.1  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States  lived  in  cities  of  8,000  or  more  persons,  while 
in  1790  there  were  but  3.3  per  cent,  of  such  urbanites. 
There  were  6  cities  of  8,000  inhabitants  in  1790,  545  in  1900. 
There  was  no  increase  in  the  number  of  such  places  until 
the  census  of  1810.  Then  the  increase  in  such  places  by 
decades  was  5,  2,  13,  18,  41,  56,  85,  60,  161,  98.2 

Reckoning  all  places  of  2,500  inhabitants  or  more  as  urban> 
which  is  now  the  practice  of  the  United  States  Census 

1  The  substance  of  this  paper  appeared  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of 
the  University  of  North  Dakota  for  October,  1910,  and  January,  1911, 
under  the  title  "  City  Trend  of  Population  and  Leadership,"  and  in  the 
Amer.  J.  Soc.,  March,  1911,  as  "The  Drift  to  the  City  in  Relation  to 
the  Rural  Problem." 

2  Eleventh  Census,  1900,  Vol.  I,  Table  XXIX. 

32 


EUEAL  AND  UEBAN  INCREASE  33 

Bureau,  in  1910  46.3  per  cent,  of  our  people  were  urban 
as  compared  with  36.1  in  1890  and  40.5  in  1900;  while  53.7 
per  cent,  wet-e  rural  in  comparison  with  63.9  per  cent,  in 
1890  and  59.J5,  in  1900.3 

Relativity  of  Rural  Loss — Decrease  of  rural  population  is 
relative,  not  actual,  for  the  country  as  a  whole.  The  actual 
loss  of  rural  population  is  small.  In  the  North  Atlantic 
division  from  1890  to  1900  there  was  a  net  loss  of  238,865, 
three  states  having  gained  86,943,  while  six  states  lost  325,- 
808  rural  inhabitants.  In  the  South  Atlantic  division  there 
was  a  gain  of  830,739  for  country  districts,  only  one  state, 
Delaware,  having  lost,  to  the  extent  of  2,404  persons.  The 
North  Central  division  had  a  rural  gain  to  its  credit  of  458,- 
149,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  five  of  its  states  sustained 
a  rural  loss  of  138,315  inhabitants.  The  South  Central  and 
Western  Divisions  showed  large  net  rural  gains,  the  former 
gaining  67.7  per  cent,  in  the  decade,  the  latter  36.9  per  cent.4 
Maine  sustained  a  rural  loss  of  13.3  per  cent,  of  its  total  in- 
crease of  population ;  New  Hampshire  44.9 ;  Vermont  214.9 ; 
Massachusetts  2.2 ;  New  York  16.4;  New  Jersey  13.9 ;  Dela- 
ware 14.8;  Nebraska  125.2;  Kansas  51.0;  Ohio  17.1;  In- 
diana 0.1 ;  and  Illinois  2.9  per  cent.  In  the  case  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  the  rural  decrease  was  of  a  temporary  nature, 
being  due  to  droughts  in  the  western  ends  of  those  states  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  decade. 

The  following  states  are  shown  to  have  lost  rural  population 
in  the  decade  1900-1910,  measured  in  per  cent.:  New 
Hampshire  5.4;  Vermont  4.2;  Ohio  1.3;  Indiana  5.5;  Illi- 
nois 0.5;  Iowa  7.2;  and  Missouri  3.5.  Two  divisions  show 
a  loss.  New  England  declined  in  rural  population  0.5  per 
cent,  and  the  East  North  Central  Division,  0.2  per  cent5 

s  Preliminary  statement  of  Census  Bureau  on  "  Urban  and  Rural  Pop- 
ulation of  the  United  States." 

*  Twelfth  Census,  Vol.  I,  Table  XXXVI. 

5  Preliminary  statement  of  Census  Bureau  on  "  Urban  and  Rural  Pop- 
ulation of  the  United  States." 


34        CONSTKUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

Permanency  of  City  Increase. —  The  tendency  toward  the 
relative  decrease  of  rural  and  the  relative  increase  of  urban 
population  seems  likely  to  continue,  judging  from  decennial 
statistics.  The  increase  of  population  of  cities  of  8,000  or 
more  inhabitants  from  1790  to  1820  was  50.9  per  cent.,  from 
1820  to  1850  it  was  83.1  per  cent,  from  1850  to  1880  it  was 
58.4,  from  1880  to  1900  it  was  48.6.  The  percentage  of  in- 
crease of  city  populations  touched  its  maximum  from  1840  to 
1850  when  it  registered  99.3  per  cent.  The  other  highest 
point  was  between  1820  and  1830  when  the  per  cent,  was  82.0. 
The  average  since  1850  has  been  53.5  while  before  1820  it 
was  but  50.9  per  cent.  While  we  may  not  witness  another 
such  spurt  in  city  increase  as  that  between  1820  and  1850, 
we  find  little  encouragement  from  the  record  to  expect  a  near 
decline. 

Conversely,  the  percentage  of  increase  of  rural  population 
has  steadily  decreased.  The  percentages  run  as  follows :  from 
1790  to  1820,  34.1;  1820  to  1850,  30.3;  1850  to  1880,  24.2; 
1880  to  1900,  14.3;  1900  to  1910,  11.1  per  cent.  The 
decade  from  1870  to  1880  shows  the  only  increase  in  the  rate, 
one  from  15.6  to  27.2.  But  in  the  two  following  decades  it 
falls  to  14.5  and  14.1. 

The  ratio  of  increase  of  city  to  rural  population  was  1.6 
per  cent,  from  1790  to  1820,  2.7  from  1820  to  1850,  2.6 
from  1850  to  1880,  3.4  from  1880  to  1900.6 

Industrial  Nature  of  City  Gain. —  The  increase  of  city  as 
against  rural  population  is  localised.  It  is  connected  with 
industrial  regions  or  regions  becoming  industrialised.  The 
facts  given  above  on  rural  losses  show  that  they  occurred  in 
the  North  Atlantic  and  North  Central  states  almost  exclu- 
sively. The  most  industrialised  states  have  the  largest  per- 
centages of  urbanites:  Rhode  Island  96.7,  Massachusetts 
92.8,  New  York  78.8,  and  so  on,  while  southern  and  western 
states  have  small  ones :  Kansas  29.2,  Mississippi  11.5,  Ten- 

6  Census  Bulletin  No.  4,  1903,  Table  XXIII. 


RURAL  A1STD  URBAN  INCREASE  35 

nessee  20. 2.7  For  recent  times  the  law  could  be  safely 
formulated :  the  increase  in  rural  population  is  in  inverse  and 
that  in  urban  population  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  degree 
of  industrialisation. 

During  the  decade  just  closed  eleven  cities  passed  into  the 
100,000  class  with  others  likely  to  be  added  as  compared  with 
ten  for  the  preceding  decade.  The  largest  gain  made  by  any 
city  of  that  class  from  1890  to  1900  was  103.4  per  cent,  while 
from  1900  to  1910  two  cities  gained  over  200  per  cent.,  one 
gaming  245.4  and  the  other  211.5,  while  a  third  gained  124.3 
per  cent.  During  the  decade  1890  to  1900,  36  cities  gained 
access  to  the  25,000  class  while  in  the  last  decada  69  cities 
secured  that  promotion.  The  percentage  of  increase  of  the 
cities  of  the  25,000  class  rose  from  32.5  for  the  decade  ending 
with  1900  to  39  for  that  ending  with  1910;  that  of  the  cities 
of  the  100,000  class  sank  from  32  in  the  former  to  31.8  in  the 
latter  decade.  Cities  under  25,000  had  not  been  reported 
when  this  was  written.8 

H.    SOURCES    OF   "CITT   GROWTH 

In  consideration  of  the  fact  that  modern  populations  pos- 
sess a  large  degree  of  fluidity  both  within  the  confines  of  par- 
ticular nations  of  the  more  advanced  type  and  between  nation 
and  nation  it  would  not  be  safe  to  assume  that  the  cities  of 
America  have  gained  their  inhabitants  at  the  direct  expense 
of  country  districts.  We  have  shown  that  certain  rural  re- 
gions sustain  actual  losses  of  people  but  we  would  have  to 
prove  that  the  equivalent  number  above  city  gains  from  all 
other  directions  had  been  absorbed  by  cities  before  we  could 
assert  that  the  rural  migrants  had  been  stolen  by  urban  com- 
munities. Our  recourse  must  be  to  statistics. 

7  Preliminary  statement,  Census  1910,  "Urban  and  Rural  Population 
of  the  United  States,"  August  12,  1911. 

s  Recapitulation  of  Census  Population  Announcements,  Washington, 
D.  C.,  November  23,  1910. 


36         CONSTKUCTIVE  EUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

There  are  four  possible  modes  of  swelling  urban  popula- 
tion: by  excess  of  births  over  deaths,  by  migration  from 
farms,  by  immigration,  and  by  incorporation  of  smaller  cities. 
The  last,  incorporation,  is  insignificant. 

Natural  Increase. —  Excess  of  births  over  deaths  is  likely 
to  be  of  considerable  importance,  but  our  data  regarding  vital 
statistics  are  meagre.  Relative  to  New  England  this  state- 
ment is  made: 

The  summary  of  vital  statistics  for  the  New  England  cities 
for  1902  shows  that  the  natural  increase,  due  to  the  excess 
of  births  over  deaths,  of  towns  of  10,000  and  upward  is  8.67 
per  thousand;  whereas  in  places  below  10,000  the  rate  was 
only  1.28  per  thousand.9 

Generally,  municipal  mortality  statistics  are  untrust- 
worthy.10 The  rural  and  urban  mortality  averages  of  the 
total  registration  area  of  the  United  States  show  slight  differ- 
ences, 9/100  for  city  and  8/100  for  country.11  Birth-rate 
averages  are  lacking  so  that  as  to  the  resulting  gains  or  losses 
of  either  locality  we  are  in  the  dark. 

Immigration. —  Immigration  as  a  source  of  urban  popula- 
tion deserves  more  attention  than  it  has  been  given.  It  ac- 
counts for  65  to  70  per  cent,  of  city  increase.  The  immi- 
grants are  settling  in  industrial  regions.  The  North  Atlantic 
and  North  Central  divisions  of  the  United  States  received 
the  preponderating  number  of  incoming  Irish,  French,  Ger- 
mans, Bohemians,  Scandinavians,  Austrians,  Hungarians, 
Italians,  Poles,  and  Russians  in  1890  and  1900.12  Accord- 
ing to  the  report  of  the  immigration  bureau  of  the  Western 
Passenger  Association  four-fifths  of  the  aliens  admitted  in 
1904  and  1905  settled  in  the  eight  following  states:  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Illinois,  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey, 

»Kinley,  "Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  IV,  116. 
10 Irving  Fisher,  "Report  on  National  Vitality,"  21. 

11  U.  8.  Statistical  Abstract,  1908,  p.  75. 

12  Tenth  Census,  1890,  Pt.  I,  p.  cxxxvi,  and  Eleventh  Census,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  clxadv  and  civ. 


RURAL  AND  URBAN  INCREASE  37 

Ohio,  Connecticut,  and  California.  Of  these  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  in  1905  received  about  550,000  against  a  little 
over  300,000  received  hy  the  other  six  states. 

The  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration  reports  that 
for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1909,  544,563  immigrant 
aliens  remained  in  this  country.  Of  these,  twelve  states, 
namely,  Connecticut,  Illinois,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Min- 
nesota, New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Texas, 
Washington,  and  Wisconsin,  received  over  10,000  each,  or  95 
per  cent.,  and  six  states,  namely,  Illinois,  Massachusetts,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania,  received  over 
25,000  each,  or  78  per  cent,  of  the  total.13 

The  larger  industrial  centres  absorbed  the  vastly  larger 
portion  of  migrants  to  industrial  states.14  There  are  living 
in  cities  of  25,000  or  more  inhabitants  about  75  per  cent,  of 
Russians;  63  per  cent,  each  of  Poles,  Italians,  and  Irish; 
and  nearly  60  per  cent,  each  of  Bohemians,  Austrians,  and 
Hungarians.  These,  except  the  Irish,  are  the  foreign  races 
which  now  most  come  to  America.15  A  large  part  of  these 
and  other  races  settle  in  smaller  industrial  cities. 

Let  us  apply  the  percentages  of  the  Commissioner  General 
of  Immigration's  report  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 
1909,  as  a  criterion  of  the  proportion  of  distribution  of  aliens 
in  this  nation,  for  the  decade  1890-1900.  The  total  immi- 
gration to  this  country  in  that  decade  was  3,687,564.  Taking 
78  as  the  percentage  of  aliens  probably  settling  in  the  six 
states  mentioned  we  find  it  represents  2,876,300.  This  in 
turn  is  found  to  be  67.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  urban  increase 
of  those  states  during  the  same  decade.  If  in  the  same  man- 
ner we  treat  the  twelve  states  in  which  95  per  cent,  of  the 
immigrants  settled  during  1905,  it  is  found  that  this  portion 
of  the  immigration  to  the  United  States  in  the  last  decade 

is  Report  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration,  1909,  pp.  19-20. 

i*  Hall,  Immigration,  343-45. 

i&  U.  8.  Statistical  Atlas,  1903,  Plate  73. 


38         CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

of  last  century  amounts  to  69.2  per  cent,  of  the  urban  in- 
crease of  those  twelve  states.  It  is  probable  that  the  distri- 
bution of  immigration  did  not  differ  materially  in  the  two 
periods  considered.  From  this  we  may  conclude  that  from 
65  to  TO  per  cent,  of  the  urban  growth  of  the  United  State 
is  composed  of  immigrants. 

Rural  Migration. —  It  is  popularly  believed  that  the  coun- 
try districts  furnish  the  larger  portion  of  city  growth.  A 
careful  analysis  of  interstate  migration,  together  with  the 
application  of  the  decennial  rate  of  population  increase  to 
cities,  disproves  this  common  dogma. 

The  percentage  of  increase  of  the  total  population  of  the 
nation  between  1890  and  1900  was  20.7  per  cent.  Of  this 
increase  1.7  per  cent,  was  due  to  immigration  and  19  per 
cent,  to  excess  of  births  over  deaths  among  native  born.  This 
may  be  taken  as  the  approximate  increase  of  urban  communi- 
ties, because,  while  it  is  held  that  rural  regions  maintain  a 
larger  increase  because  of  larger  families,  on  the  other  hand 
the  urban  increase  is  likely  to  be  quite  as  large  from  the  fact 
that  the  foreign  stock  found  dominantly  in  cities  increases 
faster  than  the  native  stock  found  dominantly  in  the  country. 
Subtract  this  19  per  cent,  of  natural  increase  of  urban  pop- 
ulations from  the  30  or  35  per  cent,  of  urban  growth  not 
accounted  for  by  immigration  and  there  is  left  some  10  or 
15  per  cent,  of  city  growth  to  be  drawn  from  rural  regions. 

Corroborative  evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  conclusion  is 
derived  from  a  study  of  interstate  migration.  The  states  of 
New  York  and  Iowa  must  serve  to  illustrate  this  line  of 
proof. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  South  Central  and  South  At- 
lantic states  received  but  a  small  proportion  of  New  York 
born;  that  the  industrial  states  of  the  North  Atlantic  divi- 
sion absorbed  the  most  of  that  division's  share,  the  cities 
evidently  taking  them;  that  the  North  Central  states  which 


RUKAL  AND  URBAN  INCREASE  39 

have  been  building  up  agriculturally  during  the  nineteenth 
century  and  industrially  during  the  last  few  decades  took 
the  largest  exodus  of  any  one  division,  the  fair  inference  be- 
ing that  the  migrants  chiefly  went  onto  farms,  and  that  in  the 
Western  division  agriculture  and  mining  took  up  the  larger 
portion  of  New  York  born. 

Regarding  the  7.4  per  cent,  and  26.1  per  cent,  of  the  state's 
population  who  were  immigrants  from  other  states  and  for- 
eign nations  the  rural  regions  probably  took  the  larger  por- 
tions of  the  former  in  the  earlier  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century  while  the  cities  absorbed  the  immigrants.  The  con- 
stituency of  New  York  City  and  Buffalo  warrant  the  latter 
inference.  As  to  the  former  city,  55  per  cent,  of  the  popu- 
lation were  born  in  the  state,  8  per  cent,  in  other  states,  while 
37  per  cent,  were  foreign  born.  As  to  Buffalo,  the  per- 
centages in  the  same  order  are  63.2,  7.2,  and  29.6. 

Taking  Iowa  as  a  type  of  the  state  largely  agricultural  but 
with  considerable  industrial  development,  the  following  are 
the  data  as  to  distribution  of  the  interstate  migration: 
The  divisions  which  absorbed  the  Iowa  born  to  the  extent  of 
25,000  or  more  are  as  follows:  North  Central,  outside  of 
Iowa,  387,052,  of  which  Illinois  received  48,096 ;  Minnesota, 
42,096;  Missouri,  52,575;  South  Dakota,  31,047;  Nebraska, 
85,807;  Kansas,  88,153;  South  Central,  37,285,  and  West- 
ern, 115,092.  Evidently  the  migrants  went  to  swell  the 
agricultural  population  of  the  nation  to  the  greatest  extent. 

With  regard  to  the  native  born  and  the  foreign  born  who 
settled  in  the  state,  a  total  of  913,476  persons,  it  is  evident 
that  they  went  into  agriculture  mostly,  since  the  urban  popu- 
lation of  Iowa  in  1900  was  16.8  per  cent.,  while  these  ele- 
ments make  40.9  per  cent,  of  the  state's  population.  Select- 
ing Des  Moines  as  a  typical  Iowa  city,  the  percentages  of 
Iowa  born,  native  born  from  outside  Iowa,  and  foreign  born 
living  in  it  are  respectively  52.6,  34.6,  and  12.8. 


40        CONSTRUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

m.    SIGNIFICANCE)  AND   CAUSES   OF   MIGRATION    TO   CITIES 

Chief  Effect,  Isolation  and  Loss  of  Leadership. —  Notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  the  flow  of  country  population  to  the 
cities  is  less  than  is  generally  supposed,  there  may  be  some 
important  considerations  for  rural  communities  involved  in 
the  movement.  However  much  else  may  be  implicated,  the 
following  points  deserve  attention. 

First,  the  actual  loss  of  population  in  itself  may  not  be 
an  affliction  to  the  country.  It  is  rather  the  results  which 
flow  out  of  this  loss  which  might  prove  baneful. 

Second,  we  may  conceive  that  the  country  will  receive  an 
injury  in  so  far  as  the  supply  of  subsistence  necessary  to  its 
existence  is  cut  down.  Reflection  shows  that  this  injury  is 
more  apt  to  be  felt  by  the  people  of  urban  communities  than 
by  those  of  the  country,  because  to  lessen  rural  population 
is  to  enlarge  the  farms,  the  scope  of  agriculture  for  those  who 
remain  farmers,  and  to  heighten  prices  of  farm  produce  in 
so  far  as  the  supply  of  subsistence  needed  for  the  nation  at 
large  is  reduced  or  menaced.  But  if  the  labour  supply  which 
is  necessary  for  agricultural  production  goes  to  the  city,  leav- 
ing farms  untilled  or  crops  not  harvested,  the  rural  region  so 
affected  would  receive  a  direct  injury. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  supply  of  farm  produce  has  not 
been  put  in  jeopardy  in  America  thus  far  though  there  is  a 
decrease  in  the  exportation  of  the  products  of  the  farm,  and 
if  it  has  been  jeopardised  the  farmers  who  sell  are  benefited 
rather  than  injured.  Moreover,  if  the  prices  of  foods  have 
risen,  as  they  have,  it  is  not  certain  that  any  considerable  part 
of  the  rise  is  due  to  the  lessening  relative  rural  population. 
In,  so  far  as  rural  population  touches  prices  it  is  by  way  of 
the  organisation  of  agricultural  producers  to  regulate  market 
prices  for  their  own  benefit.  As  to  the  supply  of  farm  la- 
bour, it  is  a  fact  that  many  regions  of  our  nation  are  afflicted 


RURAIi  AND  URBAN  INCREASE  41 

with  shortages  of  labourers  periodically.  But  this  periodical 
shortage,  while  certainly  an  inconvenience  and  often  a  source 
of  loss  to  the  agriculturists  involved,  must  be  regarded  as  but 
natural,  since  the  demand  for  labour  is  on  a  periodic  basis 
and  no  provision  is  made  for  constant  supply  of  employment 
or  for  appropriate  social  conditions. 

Third,  we  may  briefly  notice  the  injury  to  the  country 
arising  from  the  increased  isolation  of  the  farm  families  by 
reason  of  loss  of  rural  population.  In  the  older  communities 
of  the  eastern  and  middle  states  and  also  in  the  newer  com- 
munities of  the  more  western  states,  farm  consolidation  is 
proceeding,  leaving  abandoned  homesteads  as  melancholy  re- 
minders of  the  former  occupants.  In  the  fertile  valley  of 
the  Red  River  of  the  North  many  such  deserted  homesteads 
may  be  seen.  The  country  districts  are  losing,  though  the 
counties  themselves  are  gaining  population.  The  farmers 
have  sold  out  to  their  neighbours  and  have  gone  farther  west 
or  north  to  take  up  land  just  as  the  Iowa  farmers  and  the 
Minnesota  farmers  are  selling  to  their  neighbours  and  have 
gone  west  to  buy  land. 

Professor  Bailey  regards  the  lament  of  the  "  abandoned 
farm  "  as  the  product  of  sentiment  rather  than  of  reason. 
He  believes  farm  abandonment  is  a  necessary  part  of  the 
agricultural  shift  which  is  taking  place  and  that  it  has  some 
redeeming  aspects.16  However,  he  overlooks  the  social  isola- 
tion which  may  ensue  by  reason  of  the  elimination  of  every 
other  country  family,  probably  not  great  in  thickly  settled 
New  York  state,  but  considerable  in  some  sections  where  the 
farms  are  already  large.  A  family  to  the  square  mile  is  not 
conducive  to  intercourse  and  sociability  of  the  personal  sort, 
save  as  automobiles  and  other  means  of  rapid  transit  exist 
to  encourage  it. 

Fourth,  the  most  serious  effect  of  the  shift  of  population 

is  "  The  State  and  the  Fanner,"  Chap.  1. 


42         CONSTRUCTIVE  BUBAL  SOCIOLOGY. 

from  country  to  city  is  involved  in  the  loss  of  leadership  sus- 
tained by  rural  communities.  This  will  receive  special  con- 
sideration in  the  chapter  on  education. 

Fundamental  Causes. —  Relative  to  the  drift  of  population 
to  cities,  we  must  distinguish  between  the  fundamental  and 
the  casual  influences.  In  our  inspection  of  the  facts  of  city 
growth  we  found  the  rate  and  tendency  had  been  uniformly 
manifest  from  the  beginning  till  now.  This  forces  the  in- 
ference that  fundamental  and  constant  forces  of  such  a  na- 
ture are  at  work  that  we  must  expect  their  continuous  opera- 
tion. When  we  look  over  the  whole  field  of  nations,  the  most 
advanced  in  civilisation,  we  discover  that  the  city  trend  is 
universal.  Indeed  it  is  obvious  that  rather  than  being  ex- 
ceptionally victimised  by  urban  increase  at  the  expense  of 
the  country  districts  the  United  States  has  fared  well.17 
The  forces  at  work  to  produce  the  cityward  movement  are 
peculiar  to  the  age  in  which  we  live  and  are  essential  and 
intrinsic  to  it.  The  United  States  has  escaped  their  full 
effect  because  it  has  had  a  vast,  free,  seductive,  and  easily 
worked  agricultural  domain  which  has  absorbed  its  own  and 
other  nations'  fluid  populations. 

We  have  had  other  city  ages  in  the  history  of  mankind, 
but  none  on  such  a  universal  scale,  nor  any  in  which  in  any 
state  the  cities  were  so  numerous,  so  large,  or  so  essentially 
a  vital  part  of  the  social  mechanism  as  is  now  the  case.  The 
reason  was  that  the  scientific  knowledge  and  technical  appli- 
ances which  now  create  and  propel  human  progress  and  cur- 
rents were  absent.  Our  city  age  is  in  birth  and  growth 
coexistent  with  the  industrial  age.  Back  of  this  as  its  pre- 
condition lies  the  growing  body  of  exact  knowledge  in  physics, 
chemistry  and  other  sciences  which  has  been  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  mechanical  and  economic  evolution  and  which 
created  it.  Our  modern  populations  are  caught  in  the  whirl 
of  a  civilisation  which  rests  on  scientific  and  technological 

IT  Strong's  "  Challenge  of  the  City,"  20. 


RURAL  AND  URBAN  INCREASE  43 

principles.  These  principles  logically  and  inevitably  work 
out  along  industrial  and  commercial  lines,  multiplying  and 
refining  the  goods  of  the  former,  and  demanding  the  latter 
on  a  huge  complex  scale  for  their  exchange.  Thus  the  num- 
ber of  city  dwellers  demanded  to  carry  on  these  enlarged  and 
rapidly  expanding  lines  of  human  endeavour  constantly  in- 
creases and  since  the  expansion  of  the  former  is  somewhat  in 
geometrical  ratio  to  the  growth  of  population  at  large  the 
city  population  forges  ahead  of  the  rural. 

The  agricultural  regions  also  are  affected  directly  by  the 
scientific  and  technical  principles  and  appliances,  but  here  the 
results  on  population  are  entirely  opposite  to  those  in  the  case 
of  cities.  For  the  farmers  are  producing  raw  material  and 
as  the  productive  power  of  labour  is  increased  on  the  farm 
more  food  is  produced.  People  can  eat  only  about  so  much. 
The  increase  in  the  farmer's  productive  power  enables  more 
people  to  live  in  cities,  to  take  part  in  diversifying  the  forms 
of  raw  material,  enhancing  their  prices,  and  in  exchange 
and  other  work.  It  may  even  enable  the  farms  to  reduce 
their  population,  though  this  is  not  likely  to  be  the  actual 
case.18 

Being  a  constituent  ana  intrinsic  part  of  the  social  process 
we  may  not  expect  the  tendency  to  cease.  Rather  we  must 
expect  the  continued  growth  of  science  in  its  principles  and 
applications,  of  inventions  of  machines,  the  multiplication 
of  the  forms  of  goods  to  be  manufactured,  the  increased  spe- 
cialisation in  vocations,  the  development  of  scientific  and  in- 
tensive agriculture.19 

Incidental  Causes. —  The  more  casual  and  incidental  forces 
moving  inhabitants  to  cities  are  social,  cultural,  recreational, 
and  vocational.  Country  life  is  isolated.  Social  intercourse 
is  restricted.  The  moving  throng  and  kaleidoscopic  life  of 
cities  fascinates  and  allures.  Cities  are  centres  of  informa- 

is  See  Chap.  12  for  effects  of  farm  machinery  on  production. 
*»  Strong,  op.  cit.,  21-35. 


4A        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY] 

tion,  of  thought,  of  art,  of  music.  The  achievements  of  tHe 
ages  are  condensed  and  packed  in  their  structures,  machines, 
museums,  libraries,  institutes,  and  marts;  and  the  frequent 
and  immediately  accessible  newspapers  effervesce  with  news 
of  the  current  cosmos.  The  productions  of  the  masters  in 
painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture  may  be  seen,  and  the 
present  masters  of  voice,  interpretation,  and  instrument  are 
to  be  seen  and  heard.  Modes  of  recreation  and  amusement 
abound  to  match  the  tastes  of  every  class  of  devotees,  no  small 
inducement  to  those  used  to  isolation  and  a  monotonous  round 
of  labour.  Occupations  and  pursuits  of  multitudinous  forms 
to  suit  the  whims,  the  tastes,  and  the  inclinations  of  every 
type  of  individuality  exert  their  glamour  and  provide  a  satis- 
faction often  actually  more  seeming  than  real,  yet  neverthe- 
less seductive  in  the  extreme.  All  of  these  influences  com- 
bined constitute  a  powerful  attraction  and  suffice  to  sweep 
the  retired  farmer,  the  ambitious  youth  seeking  to  get  estab- 
lished, the  occasional  worker,  and  the  adventurer,  into  the 
whirl  of  urban  life. 

Remedial  Efforts. —  If  we  have  succeeded  in  locating  the 
more  important  influences  which  impel  men  cityward,  and 
if  it  is  worth  while  to  seek  to  deter  the  stream  of  life  flow- 
ing out  of  rural  places,  in  so  far  as  our  analysis  is  correct 
we  have  a  clue  to  the  remedial  agencies  to  be  adopted. 

First,  since  the  great  population  movement  takes  place  in 
response  to  the  profound  forces  which  are  essential  and  in- 
trinsic to  this  age,  we  might  as  well  expect  to  dam  the 
Mississippi  River  to  keep  back  the  flow  from  the  gulf  as 
to  avert  the  bulk  of  population  from  the  cities.  Farm  col- 
onies and  "  back-to-the-farm "  movements  have  very  small 
possibilities  as  solvents.  Possibly  some  day,  as  in  Belgium, 
now,  cheap  transportation  and  other  inducements  may  enable 
urban  workers  to  live  far  out  in  country  regions.  But  they 
will  not  be  farmers.  Industrial  and  commercial  aggregations 
are  inevitable.  We  must  expect  their  increase.  Our  social 


RURAL  AND  URBAST  INCREASE      45 

efforts  must  be  turned  to  things  which  may  be  accom- 
plished. 

Second,  the  second  set  of  causes  inducing  persons  cityward, 
namely,  the  social,  cultural,  vocational,  and  recreational,  in  so 
far  as  they  are  not  dependent  on  the  first,  may  be  checked  by 
regulation.  This  may  be  accomplished  by  setting  up  counter- 
attractions  in  the  country.  Country  life  can  be  and  ought  to 
be  improved.  Country  homes  should  have  the  comforts  and 
conveniences  of  city  homes.  Farm  life  can  be  made  more  cul- 
tural and  social.  Amusements  and  recreation  can  be  made 
a  part  of  child  life  as  well  as  of  adult.  Improvements  and 
mechanical  devices  can  lessen  the  hardships  and  drudgery  of 
outside  and  inside  work. 

Third,  rural  school  life  can  be  reorganised  and  filled  with 
new  content,  aims,  and  ideals  so  that  the  youth  in  training 
shall  come  to  look  upon  agriculture  as  an  honoured,  useful, 
and  desirable  line  of  life.  To  make  the  rural  school  over  is  to 
make  over  the  next  generation  of  country  people  and  to  fur- 
nish them  with  a  well-equipped  leadership  of  their  own. 

REFERENCES 

Bailey,  L.  H.     "  The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  Chap.  1. 

Coman,  Catherine.     "  Industrial  Hist,  of  the  U.  S.,"  pp.  243-6. 

Strong,  Josiah.     "  Challenge  of  the  City,"  pp.  20-35. 

Bogart,  E.  L.     "  Economic  Hist,  of  U.  S.,"  Chap.  18. 

Ellwood,  C.  A.     "Sociology  and  Social  Problems/'  Chap.  11. 

Hartt,  R.  L.  "  The  New  England  Small  Town,"  World's  Work,  June, 
1905. 

Gillette,  J.  M.  "  City  Trend  of  Population  and  Leadership,"  Quart. 
Journ.  University  N.  Dak.,  October,  1910  and  March,  1911. 

Hall.     "Immigration,"  pp.  343-5. 

Eleventh  Census,  U.  8.,  "  Population,"  Pt.  I,  p.  cxxxvi. 

Twelfth  Census,  U.  8.,  "  Population,"  pp.  Ixxxii,  civ,  and  clxxiv;  tables 
29,  36,  62,  68,  and  78 ;  and  plate  ix. 

Census  Bulletin,  No.  4,  1903,  table  xxiii. 

U.  8.  Statistical  Abstract,  1908,  p.  75. 

"  Report  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration,"  1909,  pp.  19- 
20. 

Thirteenth  U.  8.  Census:    "Recapitulation  of  Census  Population  An- 


46        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

nouncements,"  19 10;  preliminary  statement  on  "Urban  and  Rural  Pop- 
ulation," 1911;  "Movement  of  White  and  Negro  Population  in  Nine 
Southern  States,"  1911. 

"  Cyclopedia  of  Amer.  Agriculture,"  Vol.  IV. 

Fisher,  Irving.     "  Report  on  National  Vitality." 

Jenks  and  Lauk.     "  The  Immigration  Problem." 


CHAPTER  V; 

THE    SOCIAL    NATURE    OP    THE    RURAL    PROBLEM 

There  is  a  consensus  of  opinion  among  writers  on  country 
life  that  there  is  a  rural  problem.  How  far  the  farmers  of 
the  nation  participate  in  this  belief  is  undemonstrable.  Un- 
less they  believe  that  there  is  something  wrong  with  their 
estate  it  will  be  of  no  immediate  benefit  to  the  country  for 
writers  to  agree.  In  this  case  a  beneficial  change  could  be 
produced  only  by  a  long  and  elementary  process  of  education. 

That  the  farmers  are  of  the  opinion  that  there  is  some- 
thing wrong  with  the  country  there  are  indications.  There 
is  a  growing  interest  on  their  part  in  the  discussion  of  rural 
matters.  This  pertains  to  more  than  the  consideration  of 
improvement  of  soil,  crops  and  machinery.  The  schools  and 
neighbourhood  conditions  are  discussed  with  interest.  This 
is  noted  not  only  in  the  frequency  with  which  educational 
subjects  appear  on  the  programmes  of  farmer's  meetings  but 
in  the  marked  attention  and  interest  farmers  manifest  towards 
the  papers  and  discussions  on  social  subjects. 

Sense  in  Which  There  is  a  Problem. —  It  would  be  an  error 
to  think  that  the  problem  exists  because  of  rural  deterioration. 
There  has  been  no  such  deterioration  in  the  United  States  in 
any  general  sense.  In  fact  there  has  been  conspicuous  prog- 
ress made  by  our  agriculturists.  We  have  but  to  compare 
the  present  conditions  of  life  on  the  farm  with  that  of  pre- 
Eevolutionary  times  to  see  this.  Indeed  a  comparison  with 
more  recent  times  will  prove  sufficient.  Our  contemporaries 
who  were  born  in  the  earlier  third  of  the  nineteenth  century 
well  remember  the  hardships,  privations,  and  primitive  meth- 
ods of  farming  and  farm  life  which  prevailed  in  their  youth. 

47 


£8        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  the  average  well  settled  community 
that  it  is  better  fed,  housed,  and  clothed,  and  does  its  work 
more  easily  and  rapidly  than  was  possible  in  the  earlier 
period. 

It  is  true  there  has  been  retrogression  in  certain  communi- 
ties; also  that  many  communities  have  failed  to  make  the 
advance  sustained  by  the  agricultural  regions  generally. 
Those  communities  constitute  special  pathological  studies. 
They  are  to  be  located  and  mapped  out  in  all  their  conditions 
just  as  the  sore  spots  in  the  cities  are  now  undergoing  study 
with  a  view  to  improvement. 

Certain  communities  have  shown  a  very  recent  tendency  to 
deterioration  in  social  matters.  This  is  particularly  true  of 
certain  regions  of  fertility  and  prosperity  where  the  farmers 
have  retired  into  the  neighbouring  villages  or  cities,  leaving 
the  conduct  of  the  farms  and  the  leadership  of  the  neighbour- 
hood in  the  hands  of  renters,  who  may  or  may  not  be  inferior 
to  the  owners  in  ability  and  ambition  but  who,  it  could  hardly 
be  expected,  would  show  the  same  interest  in  the  up-keep  and 
the  upbuilding  of  the  community  as  the  permanent  owners. 

The  rural  problem  is  in  reality  a  product  of  the  intellectual 
faculties.  There  was  no  rural  problem  recognised  a  few 
years  ago.  Conditions  in  the  country  have  not  grown  worse 
since  then.  Country  life  was  regarded  as  satisfactory  and 
as  well  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  farming  classes.  Then 
men  began  to  think  about  rural  conditions.  Rural  education 
was  subjected  to  a  fierce  criticism.  Persons  who  had  pur- 
sued courses  in  rural  sociology  and  the  press  of  the  country 
took  up  the  discussion,  agricultural  schools  responded,  farm- 
ers' institutes  were  infected,  and  the  President  of  the  United 
States  took  the  important  step  of  appointing  the  Country 
Life  Commission.  This  move  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  itself  had 
an  enormous  effect.  The  whole  country  from  Maine  to  Cali- 
fornia and  from  North  Dakota  to  Texas  was  filled  with  opin- 
ions about  rural  decline.  Eventually  progressive  farming 


SOCIAL  LATHEE  OF  THE  PKOBLEM        49 

populations  took  up  the  discussion  of  country  life  betterment. 
The  origin  of  the  problem  lay  in  the  discovery  that  conditions 
in  the  country  might  be  improved,  that  they  are  not  as  good 
as  the  people  living  there  deserve,  that  the  majority  of  the 
owners  of  farms  could  well  afford  better  things  in  the  home 
and  in  education  than  they  support,  and  that  there  is  no  in- 
herent reason  why  the  farming  class  may  not  and  should  not 
live  as  well  as  people  of  equal  financial  ability  who  dwell  in 
the  cities. 

Dependence  of  Farm  Life  Upon  Other  Activities. —  In 
considering  the  nature  of  the  problem  of  the  country  we  face 
the  fact  that  the  farmer  cannot  escape  being  wrapped  up 
with  the  destiny  of  the  rest  of  the  nation  and  the  world. 
The  discovery  of  this  interdependence  and  relatedness  of 
farming  life  to  all  other  kinds  of  life  and  to  farming  life 
all  over  the  world  is  a  part  of  the  location  of  the  problem. 
It  is  in  the  nature  of  a  revelation  to  the  nation  and  to  the 
farming  class  that  there  is  something  to  do.  To  put  clearly 
before  the  farmers  that  they  are  on  a  competitive  basis  with 
others  of  their  class  in  this  country  and  outside,  and  that  they 
also  compete  with  other  classes  in  given  particulars  is  to 
state  conditions  which  they  must  meet. 

It  is  no  reflection  upon  the  farmer  to  state  that  in  his  out- 
look he  has  been  an  intense  individualist.  His  philosophy 
of  life  has  been  developed  from  his  contact  with  nature  and 
from  his  apparent  aloofness  from  the  social  mechanism.  His 
crops  and  his  stock,  his  income  and  his  prosperity  have 
seemed  to  come  by  the  application  of  his  own  individual 
effort  to  the  conditions  which  the  physical  environment  af- 
forded. He  has  been  told  by  party  politicians  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  vote  for  the  traditional  party  policy,  the  realisation 
of  the  opposing  policy  meaning  disaster.  Occasionally  he 
has  asked  that  the  government  should  assist  him  by  means  of 
agricultural  schools,  or  by  putting  a  curb  on  railways  and 
other  corporations.  But  these  appeals,  or  approaches  toward 


50         CONSTRUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY. 

an  appreciation  of  his  relationship  to  society  at  large,  de- 
pendence on  social  conditions,  and  of  a  control  of  his  des- 
tinies through  the  social  organisation  have  been  spasmodic 
and  incidental.  They  have  only  partly  changed  his  phi- 
losophy from  intense  individualism  to  one  of  cooperative 
effort.  He  has  not  believed  that  any  constant,  organised,  co- 
operative effort  was  necessary.  Recently  he  has  been  getting 
a  larger  view  of  matters  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  has 
come  into  the  possession  of  an  adequate  and  comprehensive 
view  of  his  social  relatedness  so  that  he  is  able  to  make  use 
of  it. 

Farmers  a  Social  and  Economic  Class. —  That  the  farmers 
constitute  an  important  and  distinct  economic  and  social  class, 
and  that  they  fail  to  exercise  the  power  and  influence  for  their 
own  and  the  nation's  good  which  a  class  of  their  importance 
should  may  be  made  apparent. 

Farmers  form  a  very  large  part  of  the  nation's  population. 
In  1900  there  were  10,381,765  farmers  and  farm  labourers. 
The  next  largest  occupational  group  comprised  a  little  over 
seven  million  workers.  By  classification  of  population  51.9 
per  cent,  of  all  persons  in  1900  were  rated  as  rural,  that  is, 
as  dwellers  in  the  country  or  in  cities  of  2,500  or  less  inhab- 
itants. 

Measured  in  terms  of  wealth  agriculturists  are  one  of  the 
most  important  classes.  In  1900  their  wealth  was  estimated 
at  twenty  and  one-fourth  billion  dollars  out  of  a  total  na- 
tional wealth  of  107  billion.  The  thirteenth  census  will 
doubtless  show  a  decidedly  large  increase.  Reports  thus  far 
state  that  the  value  of  farm  lands  have  grown  from  $13,051,- 
033,000  in  1900  to  $28,384,821,000  in  1910,  an  increase  of 
118  per  cent.  Probably  few  other  kinds  of  property  values 
can  show  such  an  increase.  There  are  smaller  numbers  of 
people  belonging  to  the  commercial  and  industrial  classes 
who  by  controlling  the  machinery  of  production  and  distri- 
bution of  wealth  have  come  into  the  legal  possession  of  the 


SOCIAL  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM        51 

greater  portion  of  the  wealth  of  the  entire  nation.  The  short- 
sighted policy  of  farmers  relative  to  political  matters  has  been 
largely  accountable  for  such  unequal  conditions.  As  we  shall 
see  later  there  are  promises  of  improvement.  Indeed  im- 
provement has  already  taken  place. 

Since  a  class  is  known  by  its  characteristics  and  the  inter- 
ests which  it  holds  in  common  as  well  as  by  the  function  it 
performs  in  society,  the  agriculturists  must  be  reckoned  as  a 
distinct  class.  To  them  is  assigned  the  specific  task  of  sup- 
plying the  raw  materials  of  food,  and,  to  an  extent,  of  other 
commodities  for  the  support  of  society.  They  extract  it  from 
the  earth  in  a  characteristic  manner  which  separates  them, 
from  the  vocations  of  other  workers.  They  have  interests 
which  are  in  common,  whether  they  recognise  and  re- 
spond to  them  or  not,  and  which  are  peculiar  to  them  as  a 
class.  These  common  interests  in  agriculture  in  its  broadest 
sense,  in  its  methods  and  processes,  in  its  appliances,  in  its 
conditions  and  betterment  serve  to  differentiate  farmers  from 
the  rest  of  society.  Not  that  others  may  not  also  be  inter- 
ested in  these  things  but  only  in  a  remote  way.  The  farmers 
must  know  these  things  thoroughly,  are  responsible  for  their 
continuance,  and  in  their  ordering  and  conduct  find  their 
well  being  and  satisfaction  in  life.  Their  associations,  their 
organised  efforts,  their  cooperative  undertakings,  must  be 
built  on  the  recognition  of  these  common  interests. 

Socially  the  farmer  has  not  been  rated  as  the  equal  of 
city  residents.  He  is  backward  as  a  social  class  as  measured 
by  class  status  or  social  rating.  This  has  long  been  recog- 
nised in  the  caricatures  of  "  country  Rheubes  "  which  have 
appeared  in  the  press  and  comic  papers  of  the  nation.  He 
is  represented  as  uncouth  and  primitive  in  his  dress,  as  slow 
and  stolid  like  the  ox,  as  a  gawk,  and  as  generally  inferior 
to  city  dwellers.  He  has  been  caricatured  and  depicted  also 
in  the  names  which  have  been  applied  to  him,  such  as  "  Reu- 
ben" or  "Reube,"  "hayseed,"  "spinach,"  "clod-hopper." 


52         CONSTRUCTIVE  EUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  just  how  far  this  somewhat 
make-believe  rating  is  applied  by  farmers  to  themselves.  Ex- 
perience and  observation  leads  us  to  believe  that  it  is  partly 
accepted  and  that  it  is  also  resented,  indicating  a  certain, 
class  consciousness.  City  men  who  were  farmer  boys  vividly 
remember  with  what  dread  they  entered  town,  how  the  city 
people  were  looked  upon  as  superior  to  country  people,  how 
they  were  swelled  with  importance  when  they  received  their 
first  notice  from  city  boys,  how  there  was  a  state  of  hostility 
between  country  and  city  boys,  a  hostility  based  on  a  con- 
sciousness of  certain  distinct  differences  in  the  mode  of  life. 
While  rivalry  and  neighbourhood  pride  existed  in  the  rela- 
tionships of  country  communities  to  each  other  it  was  of  a 
different  sort  than  that  between  town  and  country. 

It  has  been  a  matter  of  observation  in  a  large  number  of 
states  that  social  recognition  is  sought  of  urbanites  by  rural 
people  and  that  it  is  hardly  ever  the  reverse.  In  a  well 
known  neighbourhood  this  was  decidedly  the  case.  Country 
people  felt  a  pride  in  being  given  recognition  by  residents 
of  the  town.  Country  women  drew  heavily  on  the  home 
treasury  to  cater  to  guests  from  the  county  seat.  The  senten- 
tious remark  was  made  of  those  who  associated  with  urban- 
ites, "  Oh,  she  is  above  us  now  since  she  is  associating  with 
town  people !  " 

Dearth  of  Leadership  and  Other  Problems. —  The  leader- 
ship of  the  rural  regions  is  undeveloped  or  is  largely  lacking 
as  compared  with  what  would  be  expected  of  such  a  populous 
and  wealthy  portion  of  the  nation.  This  backwardness  in 
leadership  is  noticeable  in  several  directions.  In  the  na- 
tional governmental  affairs  it  would  be  difficult  to  mention 
a  member  of  the  farming  fraternity  in  any  branch  of  the 
government  who  stands  out  as  a  real  leader.  But  certainly 
the  farming  class  has  something  at  stake  in  the  conduct  of  the 
national  government.  Its  interests  in  agricultural  education, 
in  the  price  of  its  products,  in  the  adjustment  of  the  tariff 


SOCIAL  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM        53 

on  farm  products,  in  being  consumer  of  imported  goods  on 
which  rates  are  levied,  in  the  adjustment  of  freight  rates 
placed  on  its  output  and  on  the  goods  it  purchases  are  of  the 
greatest  importance.  Yet  it  has  rested  complacently  on  the 
theory  that  the  interests  of  one  class  may  and  will  be  prop- 
erly cared  for  by  the  representatives  of  another  class.  The 
Labour  class  of  the  world  gave  itself  up  to  the  same  fallacious 
theory  until  recently.  It  trusted  its  affairs  to  the  mercies 
of  the  classes  which  made  use  of  it.  In  European  nations 
and  in  Great  Britain  this  notion  has  been  superseded  by  the 
belief  that  its  own  representatives  will  best  serve  it  in  legis- 
lative and  general  governmental  matters.  The  numerous  la- 
bour members  who  sit  in  national  legislatures  are  a  standing 
testimonial  to  the  changed  attitude. 

In  state  matters  the  farmers  have  a  large  membership  in 
the  legislatures,  though  their  influence  is  not  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  seats  they  occupy.  Too  frequently  they 
eimply  register  votes  under  the  leadership  of  members  of 
other  classes.  In  executive  and  administrative  matters  they 
possess  little  power. 

One  of  the  great  problems  confronting  the  country,  there- 
fore, is  to  create  the  leadership  which  the  economic  impor- 
tance and  the  populousness  of  the  farmers  warrant,  to  develop 
the  organisation  and  cooperative  ability  which  the  age  necessi- 
tates, and  to  learn  to  respect  and  to  esteem  itself  as  a  social 
class  equal  to  other  classes.  For  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  in  natural  ability,  in  solidity  of  understanding,  and  in 
common  sense  the  farmers  are  inferior  to  members  of  other 
occupations. 

Connected  with  the  economic  side  of  farm  life  is  the  mat- 
ter of  conducting  the  farm  as  a  business  undertaking.  This 
is  seldom  done.  Farmers  are  accustomed  to  let  things  take 
care  of  themselves,  to  undertake  the  year's  work,  the  putting 
in  of  crops,  the  breeding  of  stock,  the  support  of  a  dairy 


54:        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

herd  on  general  principles.  Little  or  no  record  is  kept  of 
the  items  of  expense.  Memory  is  trusted  to  connect  the  pres- 
ent undertaking  with  past  experience.  The  average  agri- 
cultural undertaking  is  very  similar  to  sailing  the  ocean  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  the  charts,  depending  entirely  upon 
the  compass  hour  by  hour  and  day  by  day  to  get  the  ship 
across  safely. 

Since  the  farmers  are  to-day  competing  with  all  parts  of 
the  world  in  the  production  of  their  crops,  stock,  and  dairy 
and  poultry  products  they  are  amenable  to  the  laws  of  sup- 
ply and  demand  and  the  setting  of  prices  in  the  markets  of 
the  world.  They  are  also  competing  with  other  lines  of 
business  to  get  the  largest  returns  out  of  a  given  amount  of 
capital.  To  consider  it  as  a  business,  to  know  its  ins  and 
outs,  to  have  a  complete  record  of  it  so  as  to  ascertain  its 
value  as  a  business  proposition  constitutes  a  necessity  of 
farming.  How  to  realise  it  also  constitutes  a  problem. 

The  sociability  phases  of  rural  life  are  of  even  more  im- 
portance than  the  material  phases.  They  are  related  to  the 
latter  somewhat  as  end  to  means.  Without  social  inter- 
course the  life  of  the  average  person  would  be  considered 
empty  notwithstanding  the  possible  largeness  of  the  farm, 
the  great  yield  of  produce,  the  beauty  and  fatness  of  the 
stock,  and  the  extensiveness  of  the  bank  account.  If  the 
country  is  deficient  in  sociability  matters  we  shall  have  to 
regard  it  as  an  evil. 

There  are  some  indications  that  country  life  is  more  nearly 
stagnant  and  impoverished  in  social  intercourse  than  in  other 
directions.  Stagnation  means  that,  relatively  speaking,  rural 
life  does  not  keep  pace  with  corresponding  grades  of  life  in 
the  city.  Social  poverty  involves  the  thought  that  the  coun- 
try is  really  backward  in  view  of  the  demands  and  ideals 
of  modern  life.  Deficiencies  in  intellectual  stimulus  and  out- 
look, amusement  and  recreation,  associational  and  institu- 
tional agencies,  and  in  education  deserve  extended  consider  a- 


SOCIAL  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM         55 

tion.     This   will  be   accorded  them   in  succeeding  connec- 
tions. 

The  Proper  Point  of  View. —  The  drift  to  the  cities  has 
been  thought  to  be  the  rural  problem.  The  press  frequently 
reports  meetings  which  have  been  called  to  combat  the  urban 
tendency  or  to  promote  the  "  back  to  the  farm  movement." 
We  have  noticed  this  so-called  evil  in  the  previous  chapter. 
It  was  there  ascertained  that  the  cities  of  the  United  States, 
in  keeping  with  a  world-wide  tendency,  are  absorbing  larger 
and  larger  proportions  of  the  population  of  the  nation.  We 
investigated  the  source  of  the  growth  of  cities  and  discovered 
that  only  about  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent,  of  their  increase  is 
derived  from  country  districts  while  from  sixty-five  to  seventy 
per  cent,  is  of  foreign  origin.  The  movement  of  population 
from  one  farming  section  to  another,  especially  to  regions- 
in  process  of  settlement,  largely  accounts  for  the  actual  and 
seeming  loss  of  country  inhabitants  in  general. 

It  is  proper  to  recognise  that  there  is  a  considerable  move- 
ment of  persons  away  from  farm  life.  But  the  subordina- 
tion of  the  country  to  the  city  in  matters  of  population  must 
be  regarded  as  largely  inevitable.  This  takes  it  outside  the 
range  of  being  a  problem  that  is  pressing  on  us  for  considera- 
tion. 

The  point  of  view  to  be  supported  relative  to  farm  life 
is  not  that  which  undertakes  to  improve  conditions  in  order 
to  keep  people  from  moving  to  the  cities.  It  is  rather  that 
which  seeks  to  better  the  rural  situation  for  the  sake  of  those 
who  are  to  remain  in  it,  to  secure  for  them  what  of  right 
should  be  theirs.  Rural  people  are  as  good  as  urban  people. 
What  civilisation  has  matured  should  be  theirs  to  use  because 
they  are  its  heirs  and  participants  along  with  city  dwellers. 
We  must  make  up  our  minds  that  many  persons  will  leave 
the  country  for  the  city  and  that  it  is  well  that  they  go.  The 
great  undertaking  is  to  give  country  dwellers  an  insight  into 
the  possibilities  of  rural  life  and  an  understanding  of  con- 


56        CONSTRUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

ditions  which  will  enable  them  to  secure  for  themselves  all 
the  blessings  and  satisfactions  which  civilisation  embraces. 
And  this  should  be  carried  out  by  right  of  their  humanity, 
not  to  keep  them  on  the  farm. 

REFERENCES 

Bailey,  L.  H.     "  The  State  and  the  Farmer/'  Part  II. 

Bailey,  L.  H.     "  The  Training  of  Farmers,"  p.  6ff. 

Butterfield,  Kenyon  L.     "  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  Chap.  2. 

Bookwalter,  John  W.     "Rural  Versus  Urban." 

Anderson,  Wilbert  L.     "  The  Country  Town." 

Plunkett,  Sir  Horace.  "The  Rural  Life  Problem  of  the  United 
States." 

"Problems  of  Country  Life,"  World's  Work,  17:11195. 

"A  Commonwealth  Ruled  by  Farmers,"  Frederick  C.  Howe,  Outlook, 
94:441-50. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ADVANTAGES    AND   DISADVANTAGES    OF    FARM    LIFE 

Were  our  task  merely  to  build  a  science  of  rural  sociology 
a  discussion  of  the  advantages  of  farm  life  might  be  out  of 
place.  A  cold-blooded  science  desires  to  know  the  facts,  not 
for  utilitarian  purposes  directly,  but  in  order  that  they  may 
be  given  their  proper  classification  and  that  legitimate  scien- 
tific conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  them.  But  in  its  ap- 
plied phase  rural  sociology  has  a  right  to  consider  whether 
or  not  rural  life  is  advantageous.  It  must  proceed  upon  a 
comparative  basis  and  the  only  range  of  comparison  is  coun- 
try and  city. 

In  nearly  every  succeeding  chapter  we  shall  find  it  neces- 
sary to  refer  to  city  conditions  to  discover  whether  the  coun- 
try is  realising  all  it  might  realise  in  some  given  direction. 
It  may  be  discovered  that  some  of  the  advantages  of  farm 
life  are  arbitrary  and  not  intrinsic  to  it.  In  that  case  they 
are  open  to  attack  and  may  be  subject  to  elimination  or  re- 
duction. 

There  are  two  available  methods  of  discovering  the  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  of  farm  life.  One  is  to  find  what 
people  think  they  are;  the  other  is  to  decide  the  issue  by 
deliberately  weighing  the  facts  in  the  case.  Neither  method 
excludes  the  other.  Both  methods  are  valuable  and  supple- 
ment each  other. 

Student  Opinions  of  the  Country. —  Statements  of  opin- 
ions relative  to  the  desirability  of  farm  life  have  been  gath- 
ered by  means  of  sending  out  questions  to  students  in  educa- 
tional institutions.  Of  the  two  questionnaires  available  one 

57 


58         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

was  sent  to  Cornell  University,  New  York,  students;  the 
other,  to  students  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota.  Only 
the  salient  points  gained  from  the  reports  can  receive  atten- 
tion. 

The  disadvantages  which  received  most  attention  hy  North 
Dakota  University  students  in  reply  to  the  question,  "  Why 
did  you  leave  the  farm  ?  "  were  those  due  to  meagre  financial 
rewards,  presence  of  hard  labour,  and  dearth  of  social  and 
intellectual  opportunities.  Positively  stated,  educational  and 
professional  aims  and  ambitions  exercised  the  greater  pro- 
pelling influence  away  from  farm  life.  The  majority  of 
the  students  who  replied  were  from  the  country  but  prac- 
tically none  planned  to  return. 

One  farmer  boy  writes  that  farming  is  a  position  of  the 
greatest  independence.  If  conditions  were  rectified  it  would 
be  an  ideal  calling.  It  offers  a  place  where  habits  of  in- 
dustry and  perseverance  are  cultivated.  A  student  from 
town  who  had  lived  two  years  in  the  country  wrote :  "  I  hope 
that  the  two  years  I  spent  on  the  farm  may  never  be  re- 
peated." 

The  Cornell  questionnaire  includes  replies  from  two  groups 
of  students ;  68  were  city  bred  but  expected  to  become  farm- 
ers; 193  were  from  the  farm  and  were  studying  in  the 
Agricultural  College  to  secure  a  training  which  would  im- 
prove their  farming  operations.  The  following  points  in 
favour  of  farming  received  emphasis:  Desire  to  be  out  of 
doors,  love  of  nature  and  of  farm  life ;  belief  that  it  provides 
an  independent,  remunerative  and  agreeable  occupation,  a 
healthful  life,  wholesome  family  conditions,  and  opportuni- 
ties to  cultivate  the  mental  and  spiritual  nature. 

These  questionnaires  furnish  some  interesting  facts. 
First,  although  North  Dakota  is  an  agricultural  state  pre- 
dominantly the  students  of  its  university  commonly  expressed 
a  desire  to  leave  the  farm  or  to  avoid  it.  This  is  a  decided 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES       59 

contrast  to  the  New  York  replies.  In  Cornell  University 
both  city  and  country  bred  students  show  a  strong  bent 
toward  agricultural  life.  Second,  the  love  of  nature  and  out- 
of-door  life  is  conspicuous  in  the  case  of  the  New  York 
students.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  group  of  students 
who  came  from  the  farm.  Perhaps  instruction  in  the  insti- 
tution had  much  to  do  with  this.  Third,  no  less  significant 
are  the  statements  of  Cornell  students  of  both  city  and  rural 
groups  as  to  what  farming  provides.  Professor  Bailey,  who 
made  the  study,  remarks  that  the  replies  of  the  students  from 
farms  upset  the  widespread  notion  that  the  agricultural  col- 
lege educates  away  from  the  farm.  His  remark  is  true  of 
Cornell  and  a  few  other  similar  institutions,  but  not  of  all 
agricultural  colleges,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  chapter  on  rural 
education. 


I.    ADVANTAGES    OF   FABM    LIFE 

A  deliberative  consideration  of  the  advantages  to  be  de- 
rived from  a  life  on  the  farm  marks  the  following  important 
ones: 

Out-of -Door  Life  and  Health. —  We  are  acknowledging  in 
many  ways  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  an  out-of-door 
life.  We  have  open-air  schools,  open-air  cure  for  tubercu- 
losis, outings  and  tramps  for  nervous  break-downs,  insomnia, 
etc.  More  and  more  city  populations  and  indoor  workers 
try  to  get  possession  of  a  period  of  time  for  recreation  and 
exercise  in  the  country.  The  construction  of  extensive  parks 
in  cities  is  a  recognition  of  open-air  spaces  for  exercise  and 
oxygenation.  What  health  experts  and  city  dwellers  seek 
to  impress  and  realise  to  a  degree  the  farmers,  at  least  the 
men,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  the  women,  realise  through- 
out all  or  the  larger  portion  of  the  year.  If  the  farming 
class  is-  not  more  robust  and  healthier  than  city  dwellers  it  is 


60         CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

not  because  of  the  neglect  of  the  normal  use  of  out-of-door 
life. 

%  jjlhe  cities  tear  down  the  nervous  organisation  of  human 
beings  at  a  fearful  rate.  The  battering  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem which  takes  place  through  the  ears  in  metropolitan  places 
is  prodigious  and  incessant.^  To  one  who  has  lived  away 
from  them  for  a  number  of  years  and  returns  the  clatter 
and  clash,  the  rush  and  pandemonium  of  sound,  is  almost 
awful.  It  represents  a  Niagara  jn  comparison  with  the  peace 
and  quiet  of  a  mountain  valef  S  Says  Fisher : l  "  Observing 
practitioners  comment  on  the  increasing  nervous  tension  in 
modern  life.  The  rush  of  the  railway  train,  the  telephone, 
the  elevator,  are  at  once  an  outgrowth  and  an  excitant  of  this 
increasing  tension.  They  are  life's  pacemakers  and  the  pace 
is  ever  quickened.  The  health  officer  of  New  York  City  at- 
tributes to  this  severer  strain  the  increase  of  heart  and  nervous 
diseases.*}  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  relative  preva- 
lence of  adult  diseases  under  conditions  of  reposeful  and  ex- 
citing surroundings  and  occupations,  but  I  know  of  no  investi- 
gations on  this  phase  of  the  subject."  In  other  connections  he 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  expectancy  of  longevity  in 
infancy  has  increased  while  that  for  persons  of  60  has  de- 
creased, save  for  the  last  few  years  in  Great  Britain,  where  it 
tends  to  hold  its  own.  jft^ommon  observation  holds  that  city 
conditions  tend  to  tear  down  and  wear  out  the  stock  in  a  few 
generations,  .and  that  country  life  is  conducive  to  repose  and 
longevityTJ  It  is  stated  that  dwellers  of  London  fail  to  re- 
produce their  stock  after  the  third  generation.  The  general 
advantage  to  health  to  be  derived  from  living  in  the  open 
country  is  made  obvious  by  the  following  statistical  consider- 
ations : 

1.  The  death-rate  of  children  is  considerably  lower  in  the 
country  than  in  the  city.  This  is  shown  in  the  accompanying 
table  (Table  1). 

i "  Report  on  National  Vitality,"  p.  98. 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES        61 

TABLE  I  2 

DEATH  BATE  OF  CHILDREN  IN  REGISTRATION  STATES  (1900) 

Diseases                            Cities  Rural  Parts 

Under  1  Under  5  Under  1  Under  5 

Measles     206.3  151.2  119.3  63.4 

Scarlet  Fever    35.1  80.6  20.9  40.0 

Diphtheria  and  Croup 180.9  343.8  59.0  124.6 

Diarrhoeal   diseases    4,595.9  1,218.0  2,576.6  713.7 

Total  death  rate  of  white 

children    18,410.0  5,970.0  11,740.0  3,440.0 

Professor  Mangold  writes  as  follows :  "  Danger  from  con- 
tagion is  much  more  common  in  the  city  than  in  country 
districts.  Even  the  most  painstaking  measures  of  quaran- 
tine and  isolation  will  not  obviate  the  differences.  /The  ebb 
and  flow  of  city  population  tends  to  perpetuate  disease  and 
to  carry  it  from  place  to  place.]  JFrom  these  dangers  the  rural 
districts  are  almost  immune.  )The  cities  likewise  offer  the 
lurking  germs  a  better  opportunity  to  hide  themselves,  and 
the  squalor  and  poverty  of  the  '  other  half '  renders  them 
easy  victims  of  disease./  Federal  statistics  indicate  that  such 
children's  diseases  asaiphtheria,  measles,  scarlet  fever,  and 
the  diarrhoeal  diseases  are  much  more  frequent  in  the  cities 
than  elsewhere.  J  it  has  been  shown  that  in  Massachusetts 
measles  and  scarlet  fever  are  three  times  as  frequent  in  the 
city  as  in  country  districts,  and  that  in  the  United  States 
smallpox  and  diphtheria  are  twice  as  prevalent  in  urban  com- 
munities."^ 

'  The  my  is  handicapped  by  being  dependent  upon  an  im- 
ported food  supply  which  is  subject  to  deterioration  while 
en  route  to  the  city.  This  is  especially  true  of  milk.f  It  is 
a  breeder  of  diarrho3al  diseases,  and  sometimes  certain  con- 
tagious diseases.  City  water  has  commonly  been  inferior  to 
that  in  the  country. 

In  addition  to  these  causes  may  be  mentioned  "  deaths 
from  premature  births,  congenital  debility,  and  similar  weak- 
2  Census,  1900,  "  Vital  Statistics,"  Ft.  I,  pp.  Ixx&iii  ff. 


62         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

nesses,  which  in  the  cities  exceed  the  rural  rate  by  60  per 
cent. ;  while  deaths  from  convulsions  are  50  per  cent, 
higher."  The  figures  in  the  above  table  show  that  the  urban 
mortality  is  over  50  per  cent,  higher  for  age  periods  than 
that  of  the  country.  "  Our  cities  destroy  three  children  for 
every  two  who  die  in  the  country !  "  3 

2.  The  death-raie  for  the  various  ages  in  the  registration 
areas  per  1,000  population  shows  the  same  difference,  Table 
2. 

TABLE  II  * 

RURAL  AND  CITY  DEATH  BATE  BY  AGE 

Under  Under  65  and 

1  5  5-14  15-24  25-34  35-44  45-64      over 

Cities    ...184.7  59.7        4.3         5.9        9.1  12.1  24.3        90.9 

Rural    ...117.4  34.4         3.2         5.3         6.8  8.0  15.7         76.8 

3.  In  only  eight  out  of  twenty  diseases  does  the  country 
exceed  the  city  in  the  number  of  deaths.     These  diseases  are 
malarial  fever,  influenza,  dysentery,  diseases  of  the  nervous 
system,  diseases  of  the  circulatory  system,  and  peritonitis. 
The  comparative  mortality  rates  from  diseases  relative  to  city 
and  country  are  to  be  found  in  table  3. 

TABLE  III  5 

MORTALITY   PER    100,000  OF   POPULATION   IN   REGISTRATION   AREAS   OF   THE 

UNITED  STATES,  1907.     (City  and  Rural) 

Rural 

Cities  Districts 

Typhoid  fever  21.4  19.9 

Malarial  fever    1.7  2.4 

Smallpox    0.2  0.1 

Measles     11.3  5.7 

Scarlet  fever   13.8  4.3 

Whooping  cough 10.2  8.8 

Diphtheria  and  croup 30.6  15.2 

Influenza    19.8  38.2 

3  IUd.,  p.  38. 

*  Twelfth  Census,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  Ixxx. 

e  "  Mortality  Statistics,  U.  S.  Dept.  Commerce  and  Labor,"  1907,  p.  34. 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES        63 

Rural 

Cities  Districts 

Dysentery     5.1  7.7 

Tuberculosis  of  lungs 175.3  119.7 

Venereal  diseases  7.0  2.2 

;  Cancer 79.6  73.9 

Rheumatism    8.4  7.9 

Diabetes    16.7  14.7 

Alcoholism   9.8  4.4 

Diseases  of  Nervous  System 173.9  188.7 

Meningitis    31.4  18.5 

Apoplexy  and  Paralysis 93.4  119.4 

Diseases  of  Circulatory  System 203.4  208.7 

Heart  Disease  150.3  166.0 

Diseases  of  Respiratory  System 255.1  161.5 

Bronchitis    35.8  25.4 

Pneumonia     135.9  96.2 

Diseases  of  Digestive  System 230.2  149.1 

Diarrhoea    and    Enteritis 144.0  72.8 

Cirrhosis  of  liver 18.5  11.8 

Peritonitis    6.0  7.7 

Appendicitis    13.0  6.6 

Diseases  of  Genito-urinary  System 144.8  99.9 

Brights  Disease  and  Nephritis 112.3  76.4 

Violence    120.0  97.7 

4.  Differences  in  death-rate  between  country  and  city  exist 
relative  to  nativity.  Negroes  appear  to  be  especially  suscep- 
tible to  death  conditions  in  cities.  This  is  shown  in  table  4. 

TABLE  IV  a 

DEATH-RATES    PER    1,000   POPULATION,    BY   RACE,    NATIVITY,    AND    NATIVITY 
OF  PARENTS,  IN  COUNTRY  AND  CITY 1900 


Total 

White 

Negro, 
Indian 
&  Mon- 
golian 

White 

Native-  White 

Native 

Foreign 
born 

Both 
Parents 
native 

One  or 
both 
Parents 
Foreign 
born 

Cities 
Rural 

..    18.6 
.    15.4 

18.4 
15.3 

27.6 
19.0 

18.3 
14.9 

18.5 
17.8 

17.5 
15.6 

19.0 
12.7 

Farmers  and  farm  labourers  register  a  lower  death-rate 
than  any  other  occupation,  except  that  of  boot  and  shoe  work- 
ers. 

«  Twelfth  Census,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  Ivii,  Ixx,  Ixxiv,  and  286. 


64        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

Contact  with  Nature.—  This  is  closely  associated  with  out- 
of-door  life  but  it  is  a  distinct  concept.  We  have  the  thought 
of  the  results  on  the  psychical  qualities  of  life  which  ensue 
from  a  close  association  with  the  things  of  the  out-of-door 
world.  Love  of  nature  may  well  be  the  inheritance  of  the 
city-born  and  city-bred  person.  But  how  much  such  a  na- 
ture would  be  enriched  by  a  continuous  association  with  the 
beauties  of  landscape,  the  sympathetic  friendships  of  animal 
friends  and  dependents,  the  observations  of  growing  plant 
and  animal  life,  and  the  thrill  arising  from  the  powerful  and 
spectacular  demonstrations  of  nature's  powers  in  storm  and 
tempest.  To  the  one  who  has  the  soul  to  respond  there  is  no 
situation  which  offers  a  finer  satisfaction  and  a  more  pro- 
found feeling  of  intimacy  and  kinship  with  the  cosmos  than 
that  of  being  in  the  presence  of  springing  grass  and  swelling 
bud  of  early  spring.  These  are  elements  which  appeal  to 
the  housed-up  being  and  constantly  threaten  to  draw  him  away 
to  the  country. 

That  the  advantages  of  this  contact  with  nature  finds  much 
appreciation  on  the  part  of  those  who  dwell  in  the  country 
is  denoted  by  the  replies  of  the  Cornell  students  who  had 
lived  on  the  farm.  Remarking  on  the  replies  received  from 
those  who  expected  to  farm,  the  investigator  says :  "  Nearly 
every  one  of  them  gives  higher  ideals  of  living  as  the  pro- 
pelling motive,  and  these  ideals  crystallise  about  two  points, — 
the  love  of  nature,  and  the  desire  of  a  free  independent  life."  7 

Greater  Exemption  from  Social  Evils. —  The  countrv  is 
relatively  free  from  certain  social  evils  which  beset  the  cities. 

1.  The  "  slum  "  with  its  attendant  poverty,  congestion,  bad 
housing  conditions,  debauchery  and  vice  is  the  usual  con- 
comitant of  the  cities  of  any  considerable  size.  The  country 
has  hardly  anything  which  corresponds  to  this,  although 
there  are  occasional  small  communities  which  are  backward 
and  sometimes  vicious.  Outside  the  slum  areas  of  the  cities 
7  Bailey,  "  The  Training  of  Farmers,"  pp.  123,  124,  135. 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES       65 

are  other  large  regions  where  life  conditions  are  but  little 
better,  where  the  population  live  on  the  very  verge  of  de- 
pendency and  to  be  out  of  work  a  few  days  is  viewed  as  a 
calamity.  The  general  conditions  of  country  life  are  much 
better  and  safer.  Only  in  restricted  areas  would  a  crop 
failure  imperil  the  economic  status. 

2.  There  is  also  the  "  social  evil,"  preeminently,  which 
exists  as  a  putrid  sore  in  the  midst  of  the  average  urban  com- 
munity.    This  scarcely  exists  in  rural  regions,  at  least  in 
the  open-air  portions. 

The  advantageous  position  the  rural  region  occupies  rela- 
tive to  pathological  conditions  is  made  increasingly  obvious 
by  comparing  it  with  city  populations. 

3.  Statistics  of  the  number  of  paupers  in  the  United 
States  are  inadequate.     The  government  reports  cover  those 
which  are  inmates  of  almshouses  only.     It  is  well  known 
to  charity  workers  and  poor  overseers  that  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  dependents  are  cared  for  under  the  heading  of 
"  outdoor "  relief.     In  many  counties  of  the  newer  states 
almshouses  have  not  been  built.     As  a  consequence  relief  work 
is  of  the  "  outdoor  "  kind.     Hence  an  occupational  distribu- 
tion of  paupers  in  almshouses  gives  but  a  partial  index  of  the 
degree  of  country  and  urban  pauperism.     Yet  it  is  valuable 
and  probably  approximately  representative  of  what  would  be 
the  case  if  we  had  complete  data.     It  is  found  that  in  the 
year  1904  "agriculture,  transportation,  and  other  outdoor" 
occupations  account  for  but  23.7  per  cent,  of  all  paupers  at 
least  ten  years  of  age  whose  occupation  prior  to  admission  to 
the  almshouse  was  known.8     In  other  words,  while  the  coun- 
try possesses  over  one-half  of  the  population,  it  produces  less 
than  one-fourth  of  the  paupers  of  the  nation. 

4.  No  direct  statistics  of  crime  as  distinctively  rural  or 
urban  are  available.     The  matter  has  to  be  arrived  at  by 
indirect  methods.     While  the  distribution  of  prisoners  in  the 

s  Special  Census  Report  on  "  Paupers  in  Almshouses,"  Table  XXVII. 


66         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

penal  institutions  of  the  United  States  is  not  an  absolute 
measure  it  is  nevertheless  a  very  good  indication.  We  find 
that  agriculture,  transportation,  and  other  outdoor  occupa- 
tions furnish  but  17.2  per  cent,  of  all  male  prisoners.  When 
we  remember  that  approximately  54  per  cent,  of  our  popula- 
tion dwells  in  the  open  country  and  in  towns  of  2,500  or  less, 
and  when  we  make  a  reduction  of  17. 2  per  cent,  because  of 
the  amount  "  transportation  and  other  outdoor  "  occupations 
contribute,  it  becomes  evident  that  the  agricultural  regions 
send  to  prisons  a  small  minimum  of  what  their  population 
warrants.  Relative  to  female  prisoners  the  case  is  more 
vague.  "  All  other  occupations "  in  which  agriculture  is 
classed  furnishes  9  per  cent,  of  all  female  prisoners.  What 
portion  of  these  hail  from  the  country  is  not  known.9 

5.  General  and  reliable  statistics  of  insanity  are  few. 
The  national  government  offers  us  very  little.  An  inspec- 
tion of  its  data  for  1880  and  1890  reveals  practically  nothing 
on  whether  country  or  city  is  the  more  productive  of  insanity. 
The  total  number  of  insane  persons  enumerated  in  the  North 
Atlantic,  South  Atlantic,  North  Central,  South  Central,  and 
Western  divisions  in  1890  per  100,000  population  were  re- 
spectively, 238.6,  132.2,  164.8,  95.9,  and  194.1;  in  1880, 
247.5,  151.1,  171.7,  125.7,  and  200.8.  The  agricultural  di- 
visions, except  the  Western,  register  a  lower  rate  than  city 
divisions.  California's  excessively  large  rate  in  1880  and 
that  of  California  and  Nevada  in  1890  account  for  this  ex- 
ception.10 

The  census  of  1890  shows  that  there  were  1,700  insane 
persons  for  each  million  of  the  population,  while  in  cities  of 
over  50,000  there  were  2,429  insane  per  million.11  "  The 
probabilities  are  that  per  capita  of  population  there  is  less 

»  Special  Census  Report  on  "  Prisoners  and  Juvenile  Delinquents  in 
Institutions,"  1904,  Tables  XXVI  and  XXVII. 

10  Special  Census  Report  on  "  Insane  and  Feeble-minded,"  p.  9,  Table 
IV. 

11  C.  A.  Ellwood,  "  Sociology  and  Social  Problems,"  p.  235. 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES       67 

insanity  in  the  country  than  in  the  city.  The  report  of  the 
New  York  State  Commission  of  Lunacy  for  the  year  1908 
shows  that  of  all  those  admitted  to  the  state  hospitals  76.5 
per  cent,  came  from  the  city  and  23.5  per  cent,  came  from 
the  country.  From  this  statement  we  should  expect  to  find 
about  one-fourth  of  the  patients  with  each  form  of  insanity 
coming  from  the  country.  Such  is  not  the  case.  The  same 
report  states  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  cases  of  general 
paralysis  or  softening  of  the  brain  "  admitted  in  that  year 
came  from  the  cities;  that  81  per  cent,  of  insanity  cases 
among  the  men  produced  by  alcohol  were  from  the  city, 
while  96  per  cent,  of  such  cases  among  women  hailed  from 
that  source.  The  country  produces  a  larger  portion  of  in- 
sanity known  as  "  melancholia  "  and  "  senile  dementia  "  (in- 
sanity of  old  age)  than  the  city.12 

6.  According  to  the  statistics  of  suicide  which  have  been 
gathered  in  the  registration  area  of  the  United  States,  sui- 
cides are  much  more  frequent  in  urban  than  in  rural  com- 
munities.    A  study  of  statistics  shows  that  suicides  are  gen- 
erally about  twice  as  numerous  in  cities  as  in  the  country. 
In  only  one  instance,  in  Rhode  Island  for  1906,  does  the 
country  show  a  larger  percentage  than  cities. 

7.  The  divorce-rate  is  the  reverse  of  the  marriage-rate  in 
the  great  divisions  of  the  United  States.     Out  of  twenty- 
eight  states  having  city  counties  but  three  —  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Oregon  —  showed  a  larger  country  than 
city  divorce-rate.     The  same  condition  has  been  generally 
true  in  the  census  decades  from  1860  to  1900.     At  the  census 
of  1900,  city  counties  in  these  typical  states  showed  an  excess 
divorce  rate  per  100,000  population  over  rural  counties  as 
follows:     Massachusetts  20,  Maryland  27,  Georgia  24,  In- 
diana 99,  Nebraska  96,  Colorado  49,  Washington  104.13 

A  further  consideration  shows  that  while  the  increase  of 

12  "  Rural  Insanity,"  E.  S.  Ellwood,  Rural  Manhood,  May,  1911,  p.  144. 
is  Special  Report  on  Marriages  and  Divorce,  Vol.  I,  p.  18. 


68         CONSTBUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

divorce  rate  has  been  greatest  in  city  counties  from  1870  to 
1900  there  has  been  a  decided  growth  in  that  of  other  coun- 
ties.14 

8.  The  country,  is  exempt  from  many  of  the  special  prob- 
lems of  utility  corporations,  of  capital  and  labour,  although 
it  has  its  own  labour  problem,  and  from  psychic  epidemics 
and  crazes  to  which  the  city  is  prone.  It  is  beset  with  less 
of  tendency  to  competition  in  ostentatious  display  which 
manifests  itself  in  wasteful  expenditures  of  fashion,  in  riotous 
feasting  and  entertaining,  and  in  the  various  forms  of  con- 
spicuous consumption  brought  about  by  social  rivalry. 

Greater  Possibility  of  Independence  and  of  Individual 
Initiative. —  Farming  is  the  freest  and  most  independent  of 
the  larger  callings  of  life.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  agri- 
culturist is  not  under  restraint  due  to  the  social  order.  It 
does  mean  that  he  is  less  beholden  to  the  immediate  actions 
and  attitudes,  the  beliefs,  prejudices,  and  whims  of  his  fel- 
lows in  carrying  on  his  work  than  most  other  workers. 
Given  the  ownership  of  his  land  or  the  possession  as  a  renter 
for  a  year  and  within  the  year  or  years  he  conducts  operations 
he  is  largely  outside  the  immediate  influences  of  other  occu- 
pations, or  other  workers  in  his  line.  He  is  not  likely  to 
ejectment  and  so  long  as  he  keeps  within  moral  bounds  he 
is  possessor  of  almost  unlimited  liberty.  Social  conventions, 
political  influence,  threat  of  boycott,  do  not  hinder  him  from 
undertaking  and  carrying  out  the  processes  of  crop  or  plant 
culture  as  he  sees  fit. 

What  is  true  of  the  owner  and  manager  also  very  largely 
obtains  in  the  case  of  the  hired  labourer.  While  his  tasks 
are  set  him  from  day  to  day  he  is  usually  sent  to  initiate  and 
execute  those  tasks  alone,  and  large  possibilities  of  variety 
in  execution  and  performance  are  open  to  him.  His  position 
is  far  different  from  that  of  the  day  labourer  working  under 
a  boss  or  an  artisan  working  in  conjunction  with  a  machine 

i*  Ibid.,  p.  19. 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES       69 

which  constantly  impose  the  exact  prescriptions  as  to  how 
the  task  is  to  be  carried  out. 

Scope  for  Scientific  and  Intellectual  Development. —  It  is 
often  stated  that  the  farmer  is  favourably  situated  to  com- 
mand the  time  and  opportunity  to  become  scientifically  well 
informed  and  mature  in  his  intellectual  life.  It  would 
scarcely  be  disputed  that  the  exceptional  agriculturist  is  thus 
favourably  placed.  The  farmer  who  has  wealth  enough  to 
enable  him  to  become  manager  of  his  undertaking,  employing 
hired  help  to  do  the  work,  doubtless,  if  so  disposed,  would 
be  able  to  carry  on  experimental  work  of  a  very  valuable  sort. 
Much  of  our  agricultural  advance  has  been  brought  about  in 
this  way.  Such  a  farmer  would  also  have  much  time  for 
reading  and  meditation  of  an  advanced  sort. 

The  average  farmer  has  little  leisure  for  observation  and 
experiment.  He  does  the  larger  part  of  his  own  labour,  his 
hours  are  long,  and  his  energies  are  so  spent  that  he  is  not 
prepared  to  carry  on  reading  or  heavy  deliberation  at  night 
or  on  Sunday.  There  are  many  cases,  however,  of  individ- 
uals who  are  situated  so  that  while  they  are  their  own  work- 
men and  undertakers,  they  have  used  the  winter  months  for 
reading  along  the  lines  of  scientific  agriculture;  and  in  the 
cropping  season  they  have  put  into  effect  the  insight  they 
have  gained.  These  men  have  learned  that  a  larger  use  of 
intellect  and  science  in  their  farming  operations  shortens  their 
hours  of  labour,  lessens  their  work,  and  gives  them  larger 
possibilities  of  scientific  and  intellectual  advance.  Many  of 
these  men  have  become  leaders  of  their  communities  in  the 
associations  of  farmers  and  wield  an  influence  which  makes 
for  progress.  It  is  as  great  a  satisfaction  to  meet  a  man  of 
this  type  as  to  meet  a  successful  and  progressive  business 
man.  The  same  substantial  qualities  and  alertness  in  a  given 
field  are  conspicuous.  The  fact  that  men  of  this  kind 
are  multiplying  augurs  well  for  the  future  of  rural  com- 
munities. 


fO         CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

Better  Conditions  for  Family  Life. —  We  must  recognise 
the  backwardness  relative  to  country  homes  at  the  same  time 
we  note  their  advantages.  The  disadvantages  will  be  pre- 
sented later.  The  chief  favourable  items  are  the  follow- 
ing. 

1.  A  safe  place  to  rear  children.     There  is  relative  free- 
dom from  contaminating  associations  of  the  more  vicious  and 
perilous  sort.     The  country  has  occasional  bad  characters. 
It  may  have  lower  ideals  in  matters  of  conversation  than  the 
best  sections  of  the  cities.     But  it  has  no  festering  sores  of 
immorality  and  it  is  comparatively  free  from  gangs  of  young 
criminals  who  contaminate  the  play  of  childhood.     Childhood 
in  the  country  is  not  subject  to  the  danger  of  those  radical 
or  continuous  evils  which  beset  the  city. 

2.  Country  home  life  offers  a  saner  and  more  practical 
training  for  children  than  does  that  of  the  city.     One  of  the 
recognised  shortcomings  of  city  life  lies  in  the  inability  of 
the  homes  to  yield  the  practical  training  which  after  life  will 
demand.     The  schools  have  been  academic.     The  homes  have 
nothing  for  the  boys  to  do  outside  of  school  hours.     Hence 
one  of  the  newer  educational  demands  has  been  manual  train- 
ing as  a  means  of  giving  this  practical  element.     The  coun- 
try boy  does  not  lack  here.     There  is  plenty  to  do.     Chores 
of  one  sort  or  another  exist  to  keep  him  busy  during  holidays 
and  vacations.     These  are  a  very  part  of  the  business  of 
farming.     They  employ  the  time  of  the  boys,  keep  them  out 
of  evil  associations,  and  secure  a  valuable  factor  in  training. 

3.  Training  through  family  cooperation.     Unlike  the  city 
family,  all  members  of  the  country  family  have  something 
to  do.     In  towns  probably  the  eldest  girl  may  participate  in 
the  household  work.     The  younger  daughters  and  the  sons 
have  practically  no  household  or  domestic  function.     On  the 
farm  a  division  of  labour  exists,  each  member  taking  his  or 
her  place  as  soon  as  old  enough.     The  institution  expands  as 
fast  as  active  members  are  developed.     All  cooperate  for  the 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES       Tl 

common  purpose  of  keeping  the  institution  running.  This 
offers  a  valuable  feature  in  building  the  ethical  and  social 
qualities  of  citizenship,  although  on  a  narrow  basis. 

II.    DISADVANTAGES    OF   FARM   LIFE 

The  best  way  to  get  problems  settled  is  to  face  all  the  facts 
in  the  situation,  however  grave  and  disagreeable.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  farming  has  its  drawbacks.  These  have  been 
exploited  and  perhaps  may  have  been  exaggerated. 

The  Economic  Disadvantages. —  Of  the  155  replies  to  the 
question,  "  Why  do  boys  leave  the  farm  ?  "  put  to  students 
of  Cornell  University,  62  said  that  farming  does  not  pay; 
there  is  no  money  in  it. 

Is  this  true?  It  is  true  in  this  sense.  There  is  not  the 
possibility  of  making  the  extremely  large  fortunes  that  there 
is  in  industry  or  commerce.  Farmers  as  such  seldom  get 
to  be  millionaires  and  multi-millionaires.  There  is  not  the 
opportunity  for  exploitation  of  other  classes  that  exists  —  un- 
fortunately —  in  the  business  world.  Agriculture  is  not  a 
business  that  lends  itself  readily  to  amassing  large  profits 
through  speculative  undertakings.  Persons  viewing  farm- 
ing as  a  means  to  gain  great  wealth  in  a  little  time  should 
look  elsewhere.  However  such  ideals  of  life  are  low,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  not  remote  future  no  line  of  human 
undertaking  will  remain  so  exempt  from  state  control  as  to 
offer  such  a  field. 

While  agriculture  does  not  present  the  chance  to  obtain 
great  fortunes  in  a  few  years,  which  is  commonly  the  index 
of  illegitimacy  in  business,  it  does  promise  a  comfortable  liv- 
ing for  most  of  those  who  engage  in  it ;  and  a  substantial  in- 
crease in  wealth  from  year  to  year.  Occasionally,  in  portions 
of  our  nation,  farmers  have  grown  wealthy  within  a  few 
years.  There  is  no  other  business  which  makes  as  good  a 
living  for  as  great  a  number  as  farming. 

The  relative  defencelessness  of  farmers  against  the   en- 


T2        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY] 

croachments  of  other  classes  is  a  point  made  against  farm- 
ing. It  is  indeed  a  legitimate  objection.  To  be  charged 
higher  prices  and  interest  rates  than  others  pay,  to  be 
numerically  strong  and  productive  of  the  larger  part  of 
traffic  for  the  railways  of  the  nation  and  yet  to  have  traffic 
rates  imposed  at  will  by  railway  managers  is  certainly  dis- 
advantageous. In  some  of  these  things  the  farming  class  is 
not  alone.  Most  other  users  of  transportation  facilities  are 
quite  as  helpless  as  to  control  of  rates.  Teachers,  lawyers, 
doctors,  and  others  also,  have  to  bear  the  same  prices  for  goods 
in  the  country  towns  and  villages.  Besides,  farmers  enjoy 
much  in  the  way  of  fruits,  vegetables,  eggs,  milk,  poultry, 
rent,  of  which  they  take  no  account. 

Physical  Labour. —  The  hard  work  connected  with  farming 
is  often  invoked  against  it.  Those  who  have  lived  on  farms 
will  probably  grant  that  this  accusation  is  true.  It  obtains 
for  both  men  and  women.  As  agriculture  has  been  con- 
ducted, it  has  been  characterised  by  long  hours  of  labour  un- 
der disagreeable  conditions.  At  times  there  is  likely  to  be  a 
special  rush  of  work,  when  everyone,  who  is  old  enough  to 
do  anything,  is  drafted;  and  the  measure  of  the  day  is  from 
dark  to  dark.  Such  times  are  seeding,  harvesting,  haying, 
and  threshing.  The  appropriate  climatic  conditions  must  be 
seized.  Should  they  pass  great  loss  might  ensue. 

Certain  of  these  times  are  likely  to  be  strenuous  for  women. 
At  those  critical  points  additional  farm  labour  is  engaged. 
This  imposes  more  work  in  food  preparation,  waiting  on  table, 
dishwashing,  and  care  of  sleeping  places.  Some  of  the  chores 
may  also  fall  upon  the  housekeepers  to  give  the  men  more 
time  in  the  fields. 

There  are  also  forms  of  farm  activities  which  are  rated  as 
exceptionally  arduous.  Such  are  pitching  grain  and  hay  — 
especially  some  of  the  long  grasses  such  as  timothy  and  Ger- 
man millet;  shocking  grain;  clearing  ground  of  stumps  and 
stones ;  husking  corn,  particularly  in  very  cold  weather  when 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES       73 

the  hands  are  checked  and  sore ;  and  in  household  work,  wash- 
ing, ironing,  and  cooking  for  large  crews  of  workers. 

There  are  frequent  disagreeable  conditions  under  which 
work  must  be  done.  Working  in  the  field  in  windy,  dusty 
weather,  when  eyes  and  nostrils  are  clogged  with  dust  and 
the  skin  made  to  sting  by  the  driving  particles  is  one  of  the 
most  disagreeable  tasks.  Frequently  the  work  must  be  car- 
ried on  under  conditions  of  cold  or  of  rain  which  make  it 
not  only  disagreeable  but  detrimental  to  health.  Then,  also, 
the  farmer  who  keeps  some  stock  and  garden  has  additional 
labour.  The  milking  of  cows,  the  care  of  the  work-  and  other 
horses,  the  feeding  of  the  hogs,  constitute  the  chores  of  even- 
ing and  morning  which  make  such  a  drain  on  time  and 
energy. 

It  may  be  questioned,  however,  if  the  life  of  the  farmer 
is  at  all  to  be  compared  for  severity  with  that  of  the  miners, 
of  railway  workers,  of  factory  men, —  especially  in  steel  and 
other  metal  mills  —  and  of  teamsters.  It  is  also  probable 
that  farmers  put  in  unnecessarily  long  hours.  A  tradition 
has  come  down  from  the  past  that  the  day  must  extend  from 
sun  to  sun  or  from  twilight  to  twilight.  The  pace  is  likely 
to  be  reduced  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  the  day.  Some 
farmers  work  short  hours  and  increase  the  pace  in  a  corre- 
sponding measure.  They  accomplish  as  much  and  have  a 
larger  leisure. 

Social  Disadvantages. —  The  lack  of  the  larger  associa- 
tional  privileges  is  one  of  the  greatest  handicaps  to  agricul- 
ture. The  work  of  the  farm  is  carried  on  for  most  part  in 
isolation.  Where  a  life  with  social  advantages  presents  it- 
self farming  is  likely  to  become  correspondingly  distasteful. 
Much  of  the  arduous  labour  of  the  world,  such  as  the  under- 
ground work  of  mining,  is  rendered  bearable  by  the  presence 
of  other  workers.  On  farms,  the  times  when  a  number  of 
persons  are  thrown  together,  as  in  threshing,  is  looked  upon 
as  a  kind  of  oasis  in  an  otherwise  barren  life.  Could  the 


74:         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

work  of  agriculture  be  carried  on  in  groups  it  would  no  doubt 
be  rendered  thereby  more  attractive. 

Beyond  the  isolatedness  of  conducting  the  necessary  activ- 
ities, the  hours  of  leisure  and  rest  are  deprived  of  the  larger 
associational  opportunities.  There  are  no  common  lounging 
places  where  the  workers  meet.  It  takes  effort  to  go  to  a 
neighbour's  for  comradeship  when  he  lives  the  equivalent  of 
a  score  of  blocks  away.  The  neighbouring  of  women  is  there- 
by restricted.  The  next  door  neighbour,  where  one  would 
like  to  "  run  in  "  for  a  few  minutes  daily,  is  across  farms. 

Social  gatherings  and  places  of  meeting  are  infrequent. 
Few  people  or  none  pass  the  farm.  The  multitudes  of  ways 
and  places  of  meeting  of  the  city  are  absent.  Life  seems 
monotonous,  lean,  and  lonesome  to  those  who  love  friendship 
and  companionship. 

Undertakings  of  the  humanitarian  and  associational  sort 
are  almost  wholly  absent.  The  chance  to  shine  in  society, 
the  opportunity  to  become  famous  by  acting,  speaking,  writ- 
ing, discovering,  seem  to  be  in  cities.  Benevolent  and  wel- 
fare work  are  evidently  little  called  for  where  people  make  a 
living  and  do  not  congest  in  slums.  Life  does  not,  on  the 
surface,  offer  opportunities  of  fame,  greatness,  or  nobility  of 
character. 

Personal  Characteristics  which  Come  from  Isolation. —  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  dwelling  apart  as  farmers  do  creates 
any  inherent  or  intrinsic  differentiating  effects  in  their  minds. 
In  constitution  and  structure  the  mind  of  the  farmer  is  not 
different  from  that  of  the  urban  resident.  The  framework 
of  the  minds  of  human  beings  under  quite  diverse  circum- 
stances remain  similar.  Ethnologists  hold  that  the  minds  of 
primitive  peoples  are,  in  constitution  and  framework,  identi- 
cal with  those  of  civilised  men.  It  is  the  divergence  in  the 
technique  which  surrounds  and  offers  opportunity  for  devel- 
opment to  the  individuals  of  the  respective  groups  which 
explains  the  differences  of  mind. 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES       75 

Probably  most  of  the  characteristics  which  obtain  among 
farming  populations  may  be  accounted  for  in  terms  of  isola- 
tion and  occupation.  Concerning  isolation,  we  have  to  deal 
only  with  the  relative  form,  and  we  need  not  look  for  the 
effects  which  arise  from  absolute  isolation  such  as  is  seen  in 
solitary  confinement,  or  in  herding  often.  We  have  pre- 
viously noted  the  opposing  views  which  are  maintained  as  to 
whether  farming  communities  are  more  or  less  addicted  to 
mob-mindedness  than  those  of  the  city.  In  cases  where  they 
seem  to  be  it  is  to  be  explained  by  the  homogeneity  of  the  pop- 
ulation rather  than  by  its  isolation.  Among  the  more  unde- 
sirable traits  of  farming  populations  may  be  mentioned  those 
given  by  Butterfield,  namely,  conservatism,  and,  at  times, 
intense  radicalism,  deep-seated  prejudices,  and  a  tendency  to 
brood  over  more  or  less  imaginary  injuries. 

The  farmer  is  in  direct  contact  with  the  operation  of  the 
elements  of  nature  and  doubtless  his  mind  is  influenced  by 
the  way  the  forces  work,  by  the  routine  of  the  seasons,  the 
course  and  force  of  the  winds,  the  dependence  of  crops  and 
his  prosperity  on  rainfall  and  other  climatic  conditions. 
Crop  failures  and  poor  prices  for  products  often  account  for 
changing  political  views.  Dependence  on  the  mechanism  of 
Nature,  on  the  time  of  the  opening  of  spring  and  the  arrival 
of  winter,  on  the  quality  of  the  season  for  growing  and  ma- 
turing produce,  on  bounteous  yields  or  failures,  all  of  which 
phenomena  are  beyond  his  control,  is  calculated  to  impress 
the  farmer's  mind  with  the  necessary  order  of  the  universe. 
It  may  make  him  moody,  discouraged,  pessimistic,  fatalistic, 
and  resigned. 

There  is  a  notable  characteristic  of  farm  women  which  dis- 
tinguishes them  from  city  women  and  which  may  or  may 
not  be  considered  a  disadvantage,  according  to  the  point  of 
view  maintained.  It  is  that  she  depends  less  on  display  in 
the  way  of  dress,  equipage,  and  house  furnishings  than  on 
tracing  her  lineage  to  some  remote  ancestor.  Her  family 


76        CONSTRUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

stock,  line,  or  name  is  looked  to  to  give  superiority  in  social 
matters. 

This  characteristic  is  evidently  the  result  of  living  where 
apparel  of  a  rich  and  impressive  nature,  or  elegant  carriage 
and  horses,  or  exquisitely  furnished  house  have  very  little 
opportunity  of  striking  admiration  and  envy  into  other  fem- 
inine hearts.  Exhibiting  the  height  of  a  family  tree  is  more 
possible  in  the  country,  and  whether  or  not  superior  ethically 
to  the  other  form  of  ostentation,  it  at  least  has  the  advantage 
of  being  more  economical. 

REFERENCES 

Bailey.    "  Training  of  the  Farmer,"  Part  II. 

Butterfield.     "  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  Chap.  2. 

McDougall.     "Social  Psychology,"  pp.  335-6;   343-4. 

"Kentucky  Mountaineers  and  Other  Feuds/'  American  Journal  of 
Sociology,  Vol.  VII:  1-28;  171-87. 

Williams.  "  A  Theory  of  Social  Motives,"  Ibid.,  Vol.  XV:  745-6;  750- 
51;  770. 

Fisher,  Irving.     "  Report  on  National  Vitality." 

Mangold,  G.  B.     "  Child  Problems." 

Twelfth  Census,  "  Vital  Statistics/'  Pt.  I,  p.  xxxiii  ff. 

Twelfth  Census,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  Ixxx,  Ivii,  Ixx,  Ixxiv,  262,  and  286. 

"  Mortality  Statistics,"  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Commerce  and  Labour,  1907. 

Twelfth  Census,  Vol.  II,  pp.  Ixxxviii-lxxxix. 

Special  Report  of  Census  Office,  "  Marriage  and  Divorce,"  pp.  9,  18.  19. 

Special  Census  Report,  "  Paupers  in  Almshouses,"  Table  XXVII. 

Special  Census  Report,  "  Insane  and  Feebleminded,"  p.  9,  Table  IV. 

Ellwood,  C.  A.     "  Sociology  and  Social  Problems." 

Elwood,  E.  S.     "Rural  Insanity,"  Rural  Manhood,  May,  1911. 

Special  Census  Report,  "  Prisoners  and  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  In- 
stitutions," 1904,  Tables  XXVI  and  XXVII. 


CHAPTEE  VII 

IMPROVEMENT    OF   AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTION 

The  subject  of  this  chapter,  from  an  economic  point  of 
view,  might  include  almost  everything  which  may  be  said 
relative  to  rural  social  betterment.  It  is  likely  that  if  all 
matters  of  living  pertaining  to  the  home,  the  school,  the 
church,  the  neighbourhood,  to  refining  tastes  and  heightening 
culture,  could  be  improved  and  put  into  operation,  not  only 
would  country  existence  be  raised  in  attractiveness  and  satis- 
faction, but  the  material  gains  from  the  occupation  of  agri- 
culture would  be  significantly  increased.  Our  purpose  is  to 
view  the  matter  from  the  sociological  direction  and  show  not 
only  what  agricultural  improvement  consists  in,  but  what  it 
means  for  the  life  of  civilisation  and  the  farm. 

I.    SOCIOLOGICAL    IMPLICATION    OF   AGRICULTURE 

Importance  of  Applying  Social  Achievements. —  Sociology 
considers  society  in  its  wholeness,  and  the  acts  and  work  of  in- 
dividuals as  influencing  the  quality  of  the  group  or  groups 
to  which  they  belong.  It  is  essentially  a  value  study.  Con- 
sequently rural  sociology  must  consider  agriculture  on  its 
material  side  in  so  far  as  it  is  seen  to  affect  the  quality  of 
collective  life.  What  it  treats  relative  to  methods  of  farm- 
ing is  in  the  way  of  demonstrating  the  truth  of  its  position 
that  farming  can  and  ought  to  be  improved  so  that  the  larger 
interests  of  life  may  thrive  accordingly. 

There  is  a  direct  connection  between  man's  inventive  pow- 
ers and  social  evolution.  Man's  inventive  genius  is  absorbed 
chiefly  in  discovering  agencies  and  methods  by  means  of  which 
the  forces  of  nature  may  be  mastered  by  man  and  put  to 

77 


78         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

work  for  him.  From  the  fact  that  material  civilisation  has 
doubled  and  trebled  during  the  last  hundred  years,  we  may 
also  conclude  that  the  ratio  of  the  increase  of  civilisation 
bears  some  proportion  to  the  cultivation  of  the  inventive  pow- 
ers and  of  their  application  to  the  control  of  nature.  If  the 
essence  of  society  consists  in  achievements,  this  becomes  quite 
apparent.  Achievements  are  ways  or  means  of  accomplish- 
ing things.  They  are  not  material  but  ideal,  and  consist  of 
the  plans  or  intellectual  principles  according  to  which  ma- 
terial and  other  instruments  are  built.  Civilisation  consists 
of  all  these  ideal  existences.  Material  inventions  are  not  the 
only  achievements. 

Others  are  seen  in  political  or  governmental  devices,  those 
which  consist  of  plans  for  regulating  the  actions  of  men  by 
collective  action;  social  devices  for  amelioration  by  private 
enterprise;  literary  devices  as  seen  in  plans  for  articles  and 
books;  and  so  on.  But  while  all  are  important,  their  influ- 
ence in  changing  conditions  of  life  and  in  producing  progress 
are  far  less  than  the  inventions  which  are  directed  to  the  con- 
trol of  nature.  The  civilisation  which  may  be  roughly 
termed  "  spiritual,"  consisting  in  the  speculative  and  dog- 
matic elements,  are  conditioned  by  the  others.  They  do  not 
change  fundamental  situations  of  life  as  do  the  others.  Com- 
pare Oriental  society  where  philosophy  and  faiths  have  flour- 
ished for  ages,  as  never  in  the  western  world,  with  western 
society  after  the  invention  of  the  railway.  The  former  has 
remained  inert  and  passive.  It  seems  powerless  before  the 
advances  of  the  Occident,  notwithstanding  the  hundreds  of 
millions  of  people  whom  it  includes. 

The  amount  of  subsistence  of  a  given  region  increases  with 
the  improvement  of  scientific  methods.  As  an  illustration 
of  this  let  a  comparison  be  made  of  the  population  any  one 
of  our  states  or  the  whole  United  States  could  support  pre- 
vious to  the  settlement  by  Europeans  and  what  they  support 
now.  The  aborigines  who  inhabited  America  were  in  a  stage 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  PRODUCTION  79 

of  barbarism  and  upper  savagery.  They  hunted,  fished,  and 
pursued  crude  methods  of  agriculture.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  total  population  of  the  United  States  amounted  to  between 
one  and  two  million  people.  Not  a  very  much  greater  popu- 
lation could  have  been  sustained  with  the  methods  in  use. 
Where  then  a  few  thousand  souls  resided  we  now  count  our 
people  by  the  million.  This  has  been  made  possible  by  util- 
ising the  land  and  resources  in  a  closer  and  more  intense  man- 
ner. The  increase  has  come  about  through  the  progress  which 
has  been  made  in  applied  science,  particularly  in  scientific 
agriculture. 

Our  population  has  abundant  room  for  growth  when  we 
become  scientific  in  our  agricultural  methods.  Each  farmer 
will  farm  less  land,  but  he  will  raise  as  much  as  now  and 
several  agriculturists  will  live  and  work  where  now  there  is 
one.  Granting  that  the  preceding  statement  is  true  in  es- 
sential characteristics,  it  becomes  evident  that  the  social  ad- 
vance of  rural  regions  is,  to  an  important  degree,  dependent 
on  the  progress  of  their  material  conditions.  Other  things 
being  equal,  the  community  which  manifests  most  vigour  and 
progress  in  improving  its  methods  of  production,  will  also  be 
likely  to  show  the  greatest  vigour  and  vitality  in  promoting 
its  general  social  welfare.  The  "  sinews  of  war,"  the  sub- 
stance and  means  necessary  to  develop  a  high  grade  of  school, 
of  church,  of  culture,  and  entertainment,  must  come  out  of 
the  soil;  and  it  is  the  scientific  and  progressive  community 
which  comes  into  possession  of  those  means. 

Benefits  of  Improved  Foods. —  Besides  affecting  his  own 
immediate  group  welfare,  as  well  as  his  own,  by  the  amount 
and  quality  of  his  production,  the  farmer  also  touches  the 
health  and  vigour  of  the  larger  social  world  in  these  matters. 
He  should  be  well  informed  on  food  values  because  he  is  in 
the  business  of  supplying  food  for  the  sustenance  of  the  world. 
"  He  is  preeminently  the  purveyor  of  the  race.  If  the  ma- 
terial which  he  provides  falls  below  normal,  the  race  to  a 


BO        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY. 

proportionate  degree  loses  in  vitality.  If  he  maintains  the 
integrity  of  the  elements  in  his  products,  permanency  is  se- 
cured. If  he  increases  the  nutritive  value  of  his  food  sup- 
plies so  that  when  prepared  for  the  table  they  will  afford  so 
many  more  units  of  what  is  best  for  the  body,  so  many  more 
of  muscular  strength,  so  many  of  vitality,  then  he  is  leading 
the  world  upward  in  the  betterment  of  his  crops."  Men  are 
now  engaging  in  the  study  of  foods  with  great  zest.  In  nearly 
all  institutions  of  higher  learning  attention  is  given  to  it. 
"  Scientific  men,  realising  not  only  that  great  additions  to 
human  knowledge  should  follow  researches  along  this  line, 
but  that  out  of  the  investigation  should  come  vast  good  for 
the  race,  have  followed  these  lines  of  work  with  keen  interest. 
To-day  the  results  of  these  investigations  may  be  the  prop- 
erty of  the  tillers  of  the  soil."  1 

The  economic  results  of  food  value  improvements  should 
be  considerable  to  the  farmer.  And  better  foods  must  prove 
conducive  to  the  lessening  of  dyspepsia,  indigestion,  and  all 
ailments  which  flow  out  of  poor  foods.  This  would  wonder- 
fully increase  the  sum  of  happiness  of  the  human  world. 


II.    ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  GAINS  FROM  SCIENCE  APPLIED  TO 
AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTION. 

General  Increase  in  Production The  apprehension  that 

our  nation  will  soon  become  dependent  on  other  nations  for 
food  supplies  has  been  alluded  to  in  an  early  chapter.  This 
apprehension  has  as  its  foundation  the  decreasing  exports 
from  this  country  of  food  stuffs,  the  probable  increase  of 
population  in  the  next  few  decades,  the  rise  in  prices  of 
food,  and  what  is  termed  the  defertilisation  of  the  soil  by 
poor  methods  of  farming.  If  we  may  trust  the  statements 
made  by  governmental  experts  in  agriculture  there  exists  no 
immediate  need  for  this  apprehension;  although  there  are 

i  Harwood,  "  New  Earth,"  Chap.  14. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  PRODUCTION  81 

profound  reasons  for  inculcating  a  widespread  knowledge  of 
more  intelligent  methods  of  production. 

"  There  has  been  an  almost  constant  increase  in  the  aver- 
age production  per  acre  of  all  of  the  principal  crops  in  the 
United  States  during  the  last  twenty  years.  This  does  not 
appear  in  every  state  for  all  varieties  of  crops,  but  it  is  par- 
ticularly noticeable  in  the  great  staples.  For  example,  dur- 
ing the  twenty  years  from  1886  to  1905  the  average  produc- 
tion of  corn  per  acre  increased  at  a  rate  which  quite  or  very 
nearly  equalled  the  actual  increase  of  population  in  ten  states ; 
the  average  yield  of  wheat  per  acre  increased  more  rapidly 
than  the  population  in  twenty-two  states ;  oats,  sixteen  states ; 
barley,  fifteen  states;  rye,  twenty-one  states;  buckwheat, 
eighteen  states;  potatoes,  fifteen  states,  and  hay,  twenty-five 
states.  .  .  .  The  failure  of  the  increase  in  the  cotton  and 
tobacco  crops  to  keep  up  with  the  increase  in  population  is 
due  more  to  the  disposition  of  the  growers  than  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  soil.  .  .  . 

"  A  marked  change  in  the  production  per  acre  of  all  crops 
appeared  in  the  decade  1896-1905  in  comparison  with  the 
mean  of  the  preceding  ten  years.  The  production  per  acre 
of  corn  increased  7.7  per  cent. ;  of  wheat,  6.3  per  cent. ;  of 
oats,  15.6  per  cent. ;  of  barley,  11.1  per  cent. ;  of  rye,  21.3 
per  cent. ;  of  buckwheat,  23.1  per  cent. ;  of  hay,  22  per  cent. ; 
of  potatoes,  15.3  per  cent. ;  of  cotton,  3.8  per  cent. ;  and  of 
tobacco,  5.2  per  cent." 

From  1906  to  1909  weather  conditions  were  unfavourable 
to  a  few  crops.  "  In  the  case  of  other  crops  the  mean  pro- 
duction per  acre  continued  to  show  large  increases,  the  mean 
of  these  four  years  over  that  of  the  preceding  ten  years  being 
an  increase  of  7.1  per  cent,  for  corn,  9.6  per  cent  for  wheat, 
6.5  per  cent,  for  rye,  6.6  per  cent,  for  buckwheat,  15.5  per 
cent,  for  potatoes,  and  9.7  per  cent,  for  tobacco."  2 

2  Quoted  by  Win.  E.  Curtis  in  the  Chicago  Record- Her  aid,  March  4, 
1911. 


82         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

Cooperative  Demonstration  Work. —  Advances  in  yields  of 
crops  have  been  due  to  enlightened  methods  of  production. 
The  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  of  the  national  Department 
of  Agriculture  in  1904  inaugurated  in  the  South  what  came 
to  be  called  The  Farmers'  Cooperative  Demonstration  Work. 
This  has  been  extended  to  other  parts  of  the  nation  since  then. 
The  cooperation  is  chiefly  between  individual  farmers  and 
the  Government,  although  it  also  obtains  between  farmers. 

"  An  agent  goes  into  a  territory  and  seeks  a  hard-working 
farmer,  who,  like  his  neighbours,  fails  from  year  to  year  in 
his  crop.  He  persuades  this  man  to  sign  a  contract  to  work 
a  small  portion  of  his  farm,  usually  an  acre,  according  to 
Government  directions.  This  plot  is  called  a  '  demonstra- 
tion farm,'  and  the  farmer  who  cultivates  it  according  to 
agreement  a  l  demonstrator '  or  c  cooper ator.'  .  .  .  By  his 
own  work  on  an  acre  of  ground  under  the  scientific  instruc- 
tions of  the  Government,  the  man's  life  has  been  transformed, 
the  lives  of  his  children  lifted  to  a  higher  plane,  and  condi- 
tions controlling  the  industry  he  represents  made  new  for  all 
time.  The  reason  is  plain.  The  acre  which  during  the 
thirty  years  of  his  farming  has  never  before  produced  more 
than  fifteen  bushels  of  corn,  or  one-fourth  of  a  bale  of  cotton, 
has  now  produced  seventy-five  bushels  of  corn,  or  a  bale  of 
cotton.  In  some  cases  the  sale  of  seed  from  this  one  acre 
will  finance  his  entire  crop  the  following  year." 

The  general  results  of  this  cooperative  plan  and  of  im- 
proved methods  of  farming  are  impressive. 

"  The  Demonstration  Work  extended  over  53,436  acres 
cultivated  in  cotton  and  39,058  in  corn.  The  cotton  repre- 
sented an  increase  of  about  13,750  bales  and  the  corn  609,304 
bushels.  If  the  cotton  averaged  $60  a  bale  and  the  corn  80 
cents  a  bushel,  the  gain  on  the  former  was  $825,000  and  on 
the  latter  $486,643.20,  a  total  of  $1,311,643.20.  A  large 
number  of  cooperators  and  demonstrators  made  no  report 
upon  which  accurate  statistics  could  be  based,  and  the  gain 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  PRODUCTION  83 

here  shown  is  estimated  to  be  about  one-third  of  the  actual 
gain,  which  means  that  nearly  four  million  dollars  above 
what  they  are  accustomed  to  make  went  into  the  pockets  of 
the  farmers  who  used  the  Demonstration  methods  last  year. 
And  this  does  not  represent  the  whole  gain,  because  the  cost 
of  production  was  less.  .  .  ."  3 

Use  of  Fertilisers. —  It  might  be  expected  that  decidedly 
advantageous  results  would  be  gained  from  the  use  of  fer- 
tilisers. Much  has  been  written  of  the  benefits  to  be  derived 
from  the  inoculation  of  the  soil  with  nitrogen  fixing  bacteria- 
The  matter  is  in  dispute,  some  experts  holding  that  this  par- 
ticular form  of  fertilisation  largely  increases  production; 
others  arguing  that  climate,  rainfall,  peculiarity  of  season, 
and  cultivation,  operate  so  influentially  that  any  increase  may 
be  due  to  them.  Cornell  College  investigations  show  "  that 
the  use  of  lime  by  promoting  nitrification,  particularly  in 
connection  with  a  legume,  increases  the  nitrogenous  substance 
in  both  the  legume  and  the  non-legume,  thereby  materially 
increasing  the  food  value  of  all  these  substances,  and  conse- 
quently adding  materially  to  the  value  of  the  crop." 

Nebraska  Agricultural  College  investigations  state : 

"Reports  from  thirty-one  Nebraska  farmers  from  1906 
to  1908  show  that  they  had  an  average  yield  of  thirty-four 
and  one-half  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  on  land  before  seeding 
it  to  clover  and  alfalfa  and  sixty-eight  and  two-tenths  bushels 
when  the  field  was  ploughed  up  and  again  planted  to  corn. 
Cooperative  fertiliser  tests  carried  on  by  this  department  on 
Nebraska  farms  show  that  the  plots  which  were  not  treated 
averaged  twenty-five  bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  while  the  ones 
to  which  barnyard  manure  had  been  added  gave  an  average 
yield  of  thirty-six  and  one-half  bushels." 

Elimination  of  Pests. —  The  United  States  Government  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  has  developed  what  is  termed  the 
science  of  parasitology.  It  has  discovered  that  plant  pests 

*  Review  of  Reviews,  November,  1910,  p.  570. 


84         CONSTKUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

may  be  combated  by  means  of  parasites  which  naturally  prey 
upon  them.  By  cooperation  with  the  Government  farmers 
may  secure  relief  from  the  disasters  of  particular  pests  whose 
parasitic  enemies  have  been  definitely  discovered.  The  San 
Jose  scale  has  been  successfully  combated  by  the  importa- 
tion of  a  red  and  black  lady-bird  from  Australia,  the  Noviris 
Cardinalis,  thus  saving  the  orange  crops  of  California.  The 
boll- weevil,  the  fatal  enemy  of  the  cotton  plant,  is  being  com- 
bated with  considerable  success  by  an  ichneumon  fly  which 
was  the  natural  parasite  of  the  rag  weed  weevil.  By  the 
destruction  of  adjoining  rag  weeds  at  the  proper  season  the 
fly  is  made  to  deposit  its  eggs  in  the  boll- weevil,  with  the  re- 
sult that  from  thirty  to  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  pests  have  been 
destroyed  where  the  work  was  carefully  done.  The  Hessian 
fly  has  been  reduced  by  furnishing  a  sufficient  supply  of  its 
parasite,  a  winged  midget  known  as  Polygnatus,  Parasites 
to  successfully  oppose  the  ox  warble,  the  chinch  bug,  the  flour 
moth,  the  army  moth,  the  striped  cucumber  beetle,  the  home- 
breaking  moth,  the  peach  tree  borer,  the  house  fly,  and  other 
pests  remain  to  be  discovered. 

The  enormous  losses  sustained  from  the  operation  of  va- 
rious pests  may  be  seen  from  this  statement  of  their  annual 
depredations  made  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, Table  V. 

TABI^:  V 

LOSS  FROM   INSECTS 

Cereals   $200,000,000 

Hay 53,000,000 

Cotton     60,000,000 

Tobacco 5,300,000 

Truck   crops 53,000,000 

Sugars    5,000,000 

Fruits     27,000,000 

Farm   forests    11,000,000 

Miscellaneous  crops 5,800,000 

Animal  products    175,000,000 

Natural  forests  and  forest  products 100,000,000 

Total  for  the  United  States. .  .  .$795,100,000 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  PRODUCTION  85 

The  annual  value  of  all  the  products  in  these  lines  when 
the  estimate  was  made  equalled  $5,551,000,000.  The  loss 
in  those  lines  runs  from  ten  to  fifty  per  cent.  This  takes  no 
account  of  the  loss  of  employee's  wages,  that  arising  from  at- 
tempted protection,  injury  to  enterprises,  and  other  items.4 

Benefits  from  Improved  Farm  Machinery. —  We  shall  else- 
where consider  the  benefits,  in  certain  aspects,  to  be  derived 
from  the  use  of  machinery  on  the  farm.  In  this  section  our 
attention  will  be  confined  to  the  gains  to  production  which' 
its  larger  use  entails. 

By  means  of  the  investment  of  capital  in  the  form  of 
machinery  the  time  and  attention  of  a  man  is  made  doubly 
or  trebly  productive.  In  agriculture  this  has  been  mani- 
festly true  in  the  case  of  several,  if  not  all,  machines  which 
have  been  devised  for  farm  use.  Perhaps  the  invention  and 
adoption  of  the  harvesting  machine  exemplifies  this  as 
forcibly  as  any  other.  This  invention  opened  up  the  prairies 
of  the  West  to  cultivation  and  moved  the  tide  of  civilisation 
across  the  continent  towards  the  Rockies  decades  and  per- 
haps generations  earlier  than  otherwise  could  have  been  the 
case.  No  doubt  other  implements,  such  as  the  improved 
plough,  the  cultivator,  the  drill,  the  thresher,  and  so  on,  have 
a  share  in  this  notable  triumph.  But  it  is  readily  seen,  that 
in  the  use  of  the  old  form  of  harvesting  and  winnowing  by 
means  of  the  cradle  and  flail  the  labour  of  multitudes  of  our 
population  would  have  been  consumed  which  was  actually 
released  for  further  production. 

The  extent  of  the  economies  effected  in  production  under 
the  era  of  machine  agriculture  is  thus  stated :  "  To  illustrate 
this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  state  that  in  1830  it  required  over 
three  hours  of  labour  to  raise  one  bushel  of  wheat  while  in 
1896  it  required  ten  minutes,  making  a  saving  in  the  cost  of 
labour  in  one  bushel  of  wheat  equal  to  the  difference  between 
cents  and  3%  cents.  In  1850  the  labour  represented 

*Harwood,  "The  New  Earth/'  p.  101. 


86         CONSTKUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

in  a  bushel  of  corn  was  four  and  one-half  hours,  while  in 
1894  it  had  been  reduced  to  forty-one  minutes.  In  1860  the 
labour  in  one  ton  of  hay  in  bales  represented  thirty-five  and 
one-half  hours,  while  in  1894  this  labour  was  reduced  to 
eleven  and  one-half  hours,  or  from  a  cost  of  $3  in  labour  to 
$1.29." 

As  late  as  1845  the  people  of  the  United  States  did  not 
raise  enough  wheat  for  bread.  "  With  the  advent  of  the  steel 
plough,  the  self-binding  harvester,  and  the  steam  threshing 
machine  there  was  a  marked  change  in  the  producing  power 
of  the  American  people.  The  food  supply  increased  from 
4.33  bushels  of  wheat  per  person  in  1845  to  5.5  bushels  in 
1859,  7.45  bushels  in  1869,  and  became  as  high  as  10  bushels 
in  1889."  At  the  same  time  the  country  lost  in  population 
relatively,  33  per  cent,  being  on  farms  in  1900.  The  farm- 
ers produced  enough  food  for  themselves,  for  the  other  67 
per  cent.,  and  exported  $960,000,000  worth  in  1904.  The 
larger  part  of  this  was  due  to  improvement  of  farm  ma- 
chinery. 

"  A  110-horse-power  machine  ploughs,  sows,  and  harrows 
at  the  same  time  a  strip  30  feet  wide  at  the  rate  of  three  or 
four  miles  an  hour,  turning  over  the  soil  at  the  rate  of  80  to 
100  acres  a  day,  or  under  favourable  conditions  10  to  12 
acres  an  hour.  It  thus  performs  work  which  ordinarily  re- 
quires 40  or  50  teams  and  men."  5 

The  adoption  of  tractors  on  the  farm  is  regarded  as  not 
only  desirable  but  economical.  Light  motor  tractors  for  all 
sorts  of  farm  work,  from  ploughing  in  the  field  to  hauling 
a  load  of  hay  to  market,  are  among  the  novel  developments 
in  power  vehicles  for  industrial  purposes.  A  net  saving  of 
more  than  $100  a  month  with  one  of  these  tractors  is  re- 
ported. The  same  amount  of  work  was  performed  with  a 
three-ton  farm  tractor  as  could  be  done  with  four  wagons  and 

8  "  Farm  Machinery  as  Labour  Saver,"  C.  J.  Zinthes,  "  Encyl.  of  Amer. 
Agr.,"  I,  pp.  208-209. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  PRODUCTION  87 

four  teams.  The  original  investment  in  the  tractor  was 
$2,500  as  against  $1,808  in  the  wagons,  horses,  and  eight 
sets  of  harness,  showing  an  initial  extra  expense  of  $692. 

The  total  cost  of  operation  and  maintenance  of  four  teams 
and  four  wagons  is  given  as  $424.73,  while  that  of  the  tractor 
was  actually  only  $321.29.  This  shows  a  net  saving  of 
$103.44.  At  this  rate  the  difference  in  original  investment 
would  be  wiped  out  in  less  than  seven  months,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  first  year  there  would  be  a  clear  profit  of  $549.28 
over  and  above  the  difference  in  the  first  cost.  In  two  years 
the  tractor  would  pay  for  itself  in  the  saving  in  cost  of  opera- 
tion and  upkeep. 

Abundant  promise  of  a  wide  and  successful  application  of 
electricity  to  the  needs  of  the  farm  is  held  out  by  agricultural 
engineers.  The  farmer  is  a  large  user  of  power ;  he  employs 
more  implements  and  a  greater  variety  of  mechanical  de- 
vices than  anybody  else.  But  until  lately  his  unfamiliarity 
with  power  apparatus  and  the  machinery  manufacturer's 
unfamiliarity  with  farm  methods  and  needs  have  stood  in 
the  way  of  an  adjustment  advantageous  to  both  sides.  This 
difficulty  is  now  in  a  fair  way  of  being  overcome. 

Isolated  plants,  comprising  complete  outfits  driven  by  gas 
engines,  are  now  on  the  market  and  are  being  widely  intro- 
duced. Several  central-station  extension  systems  have  been 
established  in  middle  Illinois,  from  which  electricity  is  being 
sold  to  farmers  at  the  same  rates  as  prevail  in  neighbouring 
towns.  The  day  is  at  hand  when  a  liberal  supply  of  both 
light  and  power  will  be  at  the  farmer's  disposal.  A  speaker 
at  a  recent  national  meeting  of  engineers  made  the  predic- 
tion that  the  farmer  of  the  future  would  make  his  switch- 
board his  general  headquarters. 

In  these  circumstances  the  contention  is  properly  made  that 
agricultural  colleges  should  take  a  more  progressive  stand  as 
regards  the  increasing  use  of  electrical  appliances  on  farms 
and  should  make  agricultural  engineering  a  more  important 


88         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

feature  of  their  curricula.  Progress  in  farming  and  the  im- 
provement of  the  rural  districts  both  depend  in  increasing 
measure  on  the  recognition  of  this  need. 

Other  Examples. —  Interesting  facts  exist  to  indicate  how 
other  items  of  farm  production  may  be  bettered.  New  York 
State  Agricultural  College  investigations  have  demonstrated 
that  by  "  weeding  out "  inferior  cows  the  returns  from  a 
herd  was  more  than  doubled;  which,  if  extended  over  the 
state  of  New  York  would  register  a  net  increase  to  dairymen 
of  $60,840,000  a  year.  Its  investigations  in  butter-making 
indicate  that  the  creamery  business  can  be  made  much  more 
profitable,  increasing  the  moisture  of  butter  from  that  of  9 
per  cent,  to  14  per  cent. ;  that  poultry-raising  can  be  profitably 
improved;  and  that  beneficial  results  of  a  decided  nature 
arise  from  agricultural  surveys.  Irrigation,  conservation  of 
moisture  by  special  methods  or  "  dry  farming,"  the  drainage 
of  swamps,  and  of  low  wet  land  to  increase  the  yield,  co- 
operation for  the  destruction  of  weeds,  the  destruction  of 
rats  the  loss  from  which  is  said  to  be  greater  than  from  all 
other  injurious  mammals  combined,  the  conservation  and  pro- 
tection of  useful  birds,  the  treatment  of  special  diseases  of 
plants  and  of  animals,  are  other  items  which  the  progressive 
farmer  must  consider  in  order  to  guard  and  advance  his  pro- 
ductive power. 

REFERENCES 

Weber,  H.  J.  "  Some  Facts  Concerning  the  New  York  State  College  of 
Agriculture."  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  March,  1910. 

Bulletin  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  of  Nebraska,  Vol. 
XXIII,  Art.  VII. 

Wallace,  Alfred.     "The  Wonderful  Nineteenth  Century." 

Ward,  Lester  F.     "Pure  Sociology." 

Harwood.     "  The  New  Earth,"  Chap.  14,  and  p.  101. 

Chicago  Record-Herald,  March  4,  1911;  and  February  3,  1911. 

Review  of  Reviews,  November,  1910.  "Making  Good  Farmers  out  of 
Poor  Ones." 

Adams,  S.  H.  "  Warring  on  Injurious  Insects."  American  Magazine, 
July,  1910. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  PRODUCTION  89 

"Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  Vol.  1:208. 

Coulter,  John  Lee.  "Industrial  History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Red 
Hirer  of  the  North."  Collections  of  the  North  Dakota  State  Historical 
Society,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  529-672. 

Butterfield.     "Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  Chaps.  3  and  4. 

"Principal  Injurious  Insects  of  1906."  "Yearbook,"  U.  S.  Dept.  of 
Agriculture,  1906,  pp.  508-17. 

"Boll  Weevil."    "Yearbook,"  1906,  pp.  313-324. 

"How  Birds  Affect  the  Orchard."  Reprint  from  "Yearbook"  of  U. 
S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture  for  1900. 

"  Dry  Fanning  in  the  Great  Basin,"  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  Bulle- 
tin No.  103,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 

The  following  Farmers'  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.  afford 
much  valuable  information: 

Farm  machinery  and  fuel,  Nos.  268-9,  277,  303;  Soil  and  soil  im- 
provement, Nos.  44,  77,  187,  245,  257,  266,  323,  326 ;  Diversification,  Nos. 
242,  299,  310;  Insect  enemies,  and  helpful  birds,  Nos.  54,  79,  132,  145, 
283;  Diseases  and  pests,  Nos.  28,  91,  297. 


CHAPTEK  VIII 

IMPROVEMENT    OF    THE    BUSINESS    SIDE    OF    FARMING 
I.    FARM    MANAGEMENT 

The  statements  which  were  made  in  the  first  part  of  the 
preceding  chapter  to  demonstrate  the  social  bearing  of  the 
increase  of  production  need  not  be  repeated  here.  It  will 
be  sufficient  to  remark  that  the  business  side  of  farming  may 
prove  to  be  an  indispensable  factor  in  bringing  about  any 
great  advance  in  agricultural  production.  It  affords  a  field 
for  the  exercise  of  brains.  Foresight,  acumen,  and  broad  in- 
telligence are  primary  elements  in  making  agriculture  a  busi- 
ness as  well  as  a  science.  Some  of  the  phases  of  farm  man- 
agement appear  identical  with  those  of  scientific  production 
and  the  use  of  machinery  which  were  previously  considered. 

Organisation  of  Factors  of  Production. —  An  important 
field  of  farm  management  is  the  organisation  of  the  various 
factors  to  be  used  relative  to  each  other.  This  includes,  first, 
the  proportion  in  which  the  factors  of  production  shall  be 
brought  together.  That  means  the  "  quantities  of  labour  and 
capital-goods  which  should  be  expended  upon  a  given  area  of 
land,  the  quantity  of  labour  which  should  be  associated  with 
a  given  quantity  of  capital-goods,  and  the  quantity  of  land, 
labour,  and  capital-goods  which  should  be  put  under  one  man- 
agement in  order  that  the  best  results  shall  be  attained." 
Second,  the  qualities  of  the  above  factors,  of  land,  labour,  and 
capital-goods,  must  be  considered.  The  manager  of  the  farm 
must  determine  what  grades  of  land,  labourers,  horses,  ma- 
chines, and  so  on  should  be  associated  together. 

The  farmer  and  farm  manager,  whether  they  are  combined 

90 


IMPKOVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     91 

in  one  person  or  are  separate  functionaries,  must  view  the 
undertaking  of  running  a  farm  just  as  a  banker  would  view 
a  project  of  banking  or  a  manufacturer  would  look  upon  pro- 
spective or  actual  manufacture.  These  individuals  would 
look  upon  the  respective  business  as  an  investment  for  their 
capital  and  ability.  The  business  must  be  adjusted  to  the 
size  of  the  field,  and  its  different  branches  must  be  prosecuted 
on  the  exact  scale,  in  that  proportion  relative  to  other  branches, 
which  will  realise  the  largest  return  on  the  investment. 

The  average  farmer  certainly  has  not  viewed  himself  as 
a  capitalistic  manager.  He  has  often  in  a  vague  manner 
suspected  that  he  was  doing  poorly.  He  has  bemoaned  his 
hard  state  in  having  to  labour  through  the  year  and  come  to 
its  end  with  little  or  nothing  to  show  for  it.  In  fact  many 
farmers  do  not  thrive  as  they  should;  and  if  they  critically 
investigated  all  the  facts  in  the  case  they  would  change  their 
mode  of  existence  or  their  method  of  procedure.  A  farmer 
in  one  of  the  West  Central  states  recently  stated  that  his 
yearly  savings  was  only  fifty  or  one  hundred  dollars.  He 
was  entire  owner  of  an  unencumbered  farm  of  eighty  acres, 
exceptionally  rich  in  fertility  and  all  in  cultivation.  Be- 
sides that,  he  rented  an  equivalent  amount  which  he  tilled. 
He  raised  as  good  crops  as  any  of  his  neighbours,  is  steady, 
industrious,  and  saving. 

The  managerial  side  of  this  farmer's  life  is  deficient.  His 
investment  is  probably  five  thousand  dollars.  He  puts  in, 
besides,  his  ability  and  labour.  Yet  he  only  about  makes 
a  living.  Counting  interest  on  investment  and  his  labour, 
he  invests  something  like  $1,200  a  year  in  his  business.  In 
rent,  food,  and  clothes  he  takes  out  about  $600.  According 
to  this  rough  calculation  he  is  loser  by  about  $500  a  year. 
This  case  is  typical  of  the  great  majority  of  farmers.  It  is 
to  be  remembered  that  these  men  and  their  families  have  a 
right  to  enjoy  many  things  they  do  not  have  and  to  maintain 
a  larger  social  life.  It  becomes  plain,  consequently,  that 


92         CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

their  attention  should  be  directed  to  the  consideration  of  their 
business  as  an  investment ;  to  discovering  how  they  may  make 
the  best  association  of  the  factors  of  land,  labour,  and  capital- 
goods  ;  to  the  selection  of  these  as  to  their  quality ;  in  short, 
how  they  may  improve  their  management  so  as  to  make  farm- 
ing a  profitable  undertaking. 

Farm  Accounting. —  If  community  and  individual  welfare 
depends  on  the  degree  of  profitableness  of  agriculture,  and  if 
the  profit  is  contingent  on  knowing  the  grade  and  quantity 
of  the  factors  of  production  which  are  to  be  associated  with 
each  other  in  the  enterprise,  as  well  as  how  to  fertilise,  seed 
and  cultivate  in  the  best  way,  it  is  apparent  that  some  method 
of  keeping  account  of  the  results  arising  in  connection  with 
the  various  items  is  needed  in  order  that  a  reckoning  may 
be  made.  Farm  accounting  would  consist  of  an  itemised 
record  of  expenditures  and  income.  The  record  of  cost  in 
producing  a  given  crop  would  cover  interest  on  investment 
in  land,  horses,  and  machinery,  taxes,  depreciation  of  ma- 
chinery, value  of  seed  and  of  labour,  and  cost  of  marketing. 
Besides  this,  a  record  of  the  kind  of  land  the  crops  were 
produced  on,  of  the  quality  of  seed,  time  of  seeding,  kind  of 
season,  and  methods  of  cultivation,  form  necessary  data  in 
determining  the  best  method  of  organising  and  conducting 
the  farm.  Against  the  investment  would  be  placed  the  in- 
come derived  from  the  output  at  market  prices.  Some  means 
of  keeping  trace  of  market  conditions  might  prove  valuabla 

Several  forms  of  accounting  or  book-keeping  have  been 
adapted  to  farming  purposes.  Single  and  double  ledger, 
blank  books,  and  cards  are  represented.  The  discussion  of 
their  relative  merits  is  out  of  place  in  this  work.  The  re- 
mark may  be  made,  however,  that  the  simpler  the  method  the 
better.  Complicated  systems  would  not  be  useable  for  cur- 
rent purposes. 

Another  form  of  keeping  records  is  what  is  termed  "  estate 


IMPKOVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     93 

accounting."  It  is  largely  used  in  England  where  large 
farms  remain  in  the  same  hands  for  long  periods  of  time. 
"  This  type  is  in  the  nature  of  a  consecutive  record,  from 
owner  to  owner,  accompanied  by  maps  and  plans  of  the  sub- 
divisions of  the  property,  with  an  idea  to  permanency  of 
results."  It  may  belong  to  private  parties  or  educational  in- 
stitutions. "  The  performance  of  the  different  fields  or  sub- 
divisions may  be  determined  through  a  long  series  of  years." 
"  This  plan  or  kind  of  farm  accounting  relates  the  farm  in  a 
very  positive  way  to  the  welfare  of  the  community,  and  there- 
fore affords  a  basis  for  social  studies."  l 

Methods  of  Deriving  Items  of  Information. —  As  illustra- 
tions of  the  manner  in  which  the  items  entering  into  the  rec- 
ords of  production  are  derived,  some  instances  will  be  given 
from  investigations  in  Minnesota  and  Nebraska.  The  facts 
in  themselves  are  interesting  and  valuable  since  they  show 
the  methods  of  deriving  such  information  and  the  progress 
which  is  being  made  in  that  direction. 

In  1902  the  Minnesota  Agricultural  Experiment  Station, 
in  cooperation  with  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, located  employes  at  stations  in  three  of  the  most  typ- 
ical and  important  farming  regions  of  that  state.  In  each 
region  eight  to  ten  farmers  were  selected  to  act  as  "  coopera- 
tors."  The  "  route  statistician,"  who  was  an  employe  of  the 
Department,  visited  them  daily  and  obtained  data  from  the 
manager.  Inventories  were  taken  on  each  farm  at  the  begin- 
ning and  end  of  each  year.  Scales  were  used  in  making  in- 
ventories of  stock.  Comparison  was  made  on  the  acreage 
basis,  for  a  considerable  period  of  time,  because  it  is  subject 
to  fewer  variations  than  is  the  ton  and  bushel  basis.  The  re- 
sults obtained  are  presented  in  tables  6—11.  Several  tables 
are  reproduced  because  they  offer  facts  which  are  not  generally 
accessible.  It  is  believed  that  they  will  explain  themselves. 

i "  Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  IV:  215-16. 


94:        CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

TABLE  VI 2 

ATEBAGE  COST  OF  FARM  BOARD  PEB  MONTH   AND  PER  DAY,   1905-1906 

Month  Day 

S.  E.  Minnesota $12.27  $0.409 

S.  W.  Minnesota 11.90  .396 

N.  W.  Minnesota 11.06  .368 

TABLE  VII  a 

BATES  PEB  HOUB  FOB  LABOB  BY  THE  MONTH,   1904,   1905,    1906 

Month  Cents 

January    $0.1076 

February   1136 

March 0962 

April    1181 

May 1171 

June 1252 

July     1283 

August 1187 

September     1226 

October    1222 

November 1266 

December    1065 

TABLE  VHI  2 

HOUBS  WOBKED  FEB  DAY  BY  MEN   AND   HOBSES  ON   STATISTICAL  BOUTE  AT 
NORTHFIELD,    MABSHALL,    AND   HALSTEAD,   MINNESOTA 

Average  for  three  years,  1902,  1903,  1904 

Month                                                Daily  Sunday 

Man              Horse  Man 

January    6.57  1.20  4.22 

February  6.48  1.22  4.16 

March    7.59  1.41  4.03 

April    9.67  4.47  3.71 

May 8.69  4.04  3.10 

June     9.22  3.49  2.82 

July     9.23  3.33  2.72 

August 9.79  4.81  2.66 

September    10.11  4.18  2.79 

October    9.67  4.35  2.T9 

November    8.94  3.11  3.43 

December     7.17  1.38  4.33 

Average   8.59  3.08  3.40 

2 "Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  IV:  232-9. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     95 

TABLE  IX  s 

YEARLY  COST  OF  KEEPING  HOESE  AND  BATES  PER  HOURi  OF  HORSE  LABOUR 

Average  for  1905  and  1906 

Total  Cost  Rate  per  Hour 

S.   E.   Minnesota $80.14  $0.090 

S.  W.  Minnesota.., 78.06  .082 

N.  W.  Minnesota 72.93  .075 

TABLE  X  » 

VALUES    CONSUMED    PER    ACRE    FOR   FARM    MACHINERY 

(Made  up  from  the  several  columns  given) 

Minn.  Sabin          Large  Farm 

Machines  Av.  (Clay  Co.)     in  N.W.Minn, 

Grain  machinery 

Binders 168 

Reapers     .051 

Drills   and   seeders 080 

Fanning  mills   028 

Grain  tanks  .000 

Wagons,  sleds,  and  racks 042 

Corn  machinery 

Binders    666 

Planters    092 

Cultivators    109 

Wagons,  sleds,  racks 095 

Potato  machinery 

Ploughs   .0520 

Harrows    .0140 

Wagons .0580 

Sorters    .0142 

Diggers    .2470 

Weeders    .0307 

Cultivators    .0228 

Sprayers    ..  .0700 

Planters     .0830 

All  crop  machinery 

Ploughs    068 

Harrows .014 

Disks    061 

8 "Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  IV:  232-9. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 


Machines 
Threshing  outfits 


Minn. 
AT. 


Sabin 
(Clay  Co.) 


Large  Farm 

in  N.  W.  Minn. 

.288 


Hay  machinery 

Mowers    213 

Rakes 094 

Wagons,  sleds,  racks 076 

TABLE  XI* 

FORAGE  CHOPS.      COST  OF  PRODUCTION  AND  FEEDING  VALUE 

Average  Yields         Maximum  Yields 


Cost  of 

Yield 

Crop 

produc- 
tion 

Feeding 
value 

Per 
acre 

Feeding 
value 

ton. 

Feeding 
value 

per  acre 

per  ton 

tons 

per  acre 

acre 

per  acre 

$6.35 

2% 

$15.87 

3 

$19.05 

4.90 

3% 

17.15 

4 

19.60 

1.80 

10 

18.80 

12 

22.56 

1.30 

20 

26.00 

30 

39.00 

Clover  and 

timothy     $  6.9« 

Fodder  corn  . . .   12.19 

Ensilage   19.173 

Mangels    34.12 

The  Agricultural  College  of  Nebraska  used  a  different 
method  for  collecting  facts.  The  Department  of  Agronomy 
corresponded  with  a  large  number  of  farmers  living  in  various 
portions  of  the  state  in  the  endeavour  to  find  out  the  cost  of 
producing  crops  under  Kebraska  conditions.  Two  of  the 
eight  tables  in  which  the  results  are  summarised  are  given 
because  they  represent  such  positive  results  relative  to  grow- 
ing oats  and  wild  hay. 

TABLE  XII « 


COST   OF  GROWING   OATS     (PER    ACRE) 


Year 1909. 

Number  of  Replies 120. 

Interest  and  taxes    (or  rent) $4.693 

Ploughing   1.175 

Harrowing    272 

Disking    503 

Seed    .  .   1.349 


1910 
149 

$5.164 

1.004 

.299 

.612 

.908 


Average 
135 

$4.928 

1.089 

.285 

.557 

1.128 


4 "Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  IV:  232-9. 

«  Bulletin  of  the  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.  of  Nebraska,  Vol.  XXIII,  Article  VTL 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     97 

Seeding    448                     .350  .399 

Harvesting    1.949                   1.932  1.940 

Interest  and  depreciation  on  ma- 
chinery     490                     .63  .586 

Miscellaneous 561                     .379  .470 

Total  cost  per  acre 11.440  11.331  11.385 

Yield  per  acre 34.6  bu.  35.5  bu.  35  bu. 

Cost  per  bushel 33tf  31.9^  32.5^ 

TABLE  XIII  6 

COST  OF  CROWING   HAY    (1909)     (PER  ACRE) 

Wild  Hay  Clover  Alfalfa 

Number  of  Replies                   104                       75  114 

Interest  and  taxes  (or  rent) $3.925  $5.282  $5.196 

Labour  of  cutting  and  stacking. . .   2.586                   3.010  4.878 
Interest  and  depreciation  on  ma- 
chinery     211                     .246  .256 

Total  cost  per  acre 6.722                   8.538  10.33 

Acreage  yield   1.25  T.                2.04  T.  3.33  T. 

Cost  per  ton 5.37                    4.18  3.13 

It  is  open  to  question  whether  farmers  generally  will  adopt 
a  systematic  method  of  accounting  and  keeping  record.  The 
process  involves  much  system  and  care,  to  which  few  agri- 
culturists are  adapted.  It  has  been  suggested  hy  an  eminent 
writer  that  the  women  of  the  farm  are  more  fitted  to  do  this 
work  than  the  men.  But  they  would  have  to  be  equipped  by 
special  training  and  with  large  comprehension  to  carry  it  out. 

Perhaps  the  adoption  by  farmers  of  the  standardised  re- 
sults which  have  been  worked  out  by  experts  will  be  found  to 
be  more  available.  Such  information,  when  placed  in  the 
hands  of  intelligent  men,  could  be  used  as  guides  in  the  con- 
duct of  their  operations. 

Even  a  better  alternative  is  developing.  Voluntary  asso- 
ciations of  farmers  and  business  men  are  cooperating  in  Illi- 
nois, North  Dakota,  and  in  other  states,  toward  the  employ- 
ment of  agricultural  experts  to  work  in  the  country  in  be- 
half of  better  farming.  They  travel  from  community  to 

e  Bulletin  of  the  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.  of  Nebraska,  Vol.  XXIII,  Article  VII. 


98         CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

community,  and  advise  with  and  instruct  farmers  on  their 
own  farms  relative  to  better  methods  of  production.  This 
movement  may  supply  enough  personal  direction  so  that  a 
large  amount  of  accounting  will  be  rendered  unnecessary. 

II.    FAJBM    MAEKBTING 

It  has  been  amply  shown  that  the  farmer  may  increase  his 
productiveness  in  the  field,  and  that  it  would  be  beneficial  to 
him  if  he  should  keep  a  record  of  his  business  in  its  details. 
The  regulation  of  conditions  in  society  at  large,  on  which  his 
prosperity  greatly  depends,  now  requires  our  attention. 

The  farmer  might  approach  Nature  in  a  passive  attitude, 
fatalistically  accepting  what  she  gives  up,  never  seeking  to 
coerce  her  into  yielding  more.  He  may  also  regard  his  rela- 
tion to  the  business  organisation  of  the  world  in  much  the 
same  manner.  In  fact  the  agriculturists  have  taken  this  atti- 
tude too  extensively.  They  have  seemed  to  think  they  could, 
by  no  possibility,  influence  the  regulation  of  the  conditions 
which  set  their  prices  and  profits,  and  have  permitted  them- 
selves to  be  victims  of  whatever  chicanery  and  extortion  un- 
scrupulous and  selfish  commercialism  has  practised.  We 
shall  first  seek  to  discover  some  of  the  difficulties  the  farmer 
meets  when  he  undertakes  to  market  his  produce  advan- 
tageously. 

Complexity  of  Conditions. — "  If  the  farmer  has  to  sow  and 
reap  wheat,  rear  and  fatten  oxen  and  sheep,  and  attend  to 
all  the  minor  branches  of  his  trade  that  are  recommended  in 
the  text-books  as  sources  of  profit,  he  must  have  a  correspond- 
ing number  of  articles  to  sell.  He  has  this  additional  diffi- 
culty, that  he  has  to  sell  them  by  different  methods  and  to 
different  people.  He  has  to  know  not  only  at  what  price  such 
articles  as  he  has  to  offer  are  selling  at  any  given  market,  but 
he  has  to  know  whether  it  will  pay  him  to  sell  them  at  that 
price.  He  has  to  exercise  his  judgment  as  to  whether  prices 
are  likely  to  rise  or  fall,  and  to  use  his  ingenuity  in  finding 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     99 

out  whether  by  going  further  afield  he  can  get  a  better  offer, 
and  whether  the  cost  of  taking  his  produce  to  that  market  will 
not  extinguish  the  advantages  he  might  hope  to  gain.  Then 
it  is  to  be  remembered  that  he  is  dealing  with  men  who  con- 
fine themselves  to  one  branch  of  his  industry ;  for  the  butcher 
does  not  buy  wheat,  or  the  miller  beef,  and  consequently  he 
is  dealing  with  men  who  may  be  expected  to  know  the  details 
of  the  trade  better  than  he  does.  Add  to  these  that  he  is  face 
to  face  with  a  fierce  foreign  competition,  and  the  sum  of  his 
difficulties  as  a  trader  will  be  found  to  equal,  if  not  surpass, 
the  sum  of  his  difficulties  as  a  producer."  7 

Besides  these  difficulties  of  marketing  his  produce  advan- 
tageously, the  farmer  is  subject  to  other  conditions  external 
to  him  and  over  which  singlehanded  he  has  little  control. 
These  consist  in  the  transportation  systems  which  control  the 
rates  on  produce  and  consumption  goods,  and  the  exchange 
system  consisting  of  a  great  mass  of  middlemen.  Neither  of 
these  is  the  peculiar  problem  confronting  farmers  as  a  class, 
but  in  some  respects  he  seems  more  victimised  by  the  middle- 
men system  than  some  other  producers. 

Transportation  is  in  nature  a  monopoly  where  a  shipping 
point  possesses  but  one  line.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  monopoly  in 
many  cases  where  a  shipping  point  is  pierced  by  two  or  more 
lines.  In  such  instances  an  understanding  exists  between 
the  transportation  agencies,  and  identical  rates  are  main- 
tained by  them.  The  shipper  is  liable  to  be  the  victim  of 
extortionate  practices,  and  the  farmer  pays  double,  on  his 
produce  and  on  the  goods  he  buys.  Without  organisation  he 
has  little  chance  of  redress.  Only  by  organisation  can  he 
succeed  in  obtaining  more  equitable  conditions.  The  various 
state  railway  commissions  have  been  able  to  assist  the  ship- 
pers to  a  limited  extent.  The  United  States  Interstate  Com- 
mission is  a  much  more  effective  assistant,  especially  if  agri- 

7 Arthur  A.  L.  Rogers,  "Business  Side  of  Agriculture,"  pp.  10-11. 
Methuen  &  Co.,  London,  1904. 


100       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

culturists  arm  themselves  with  sufficient  political  power  to 
make  their  influence  felt  in  the  direction  of  the  appointment 
of  its  members. 

Besides  the  evils  of  the  transportation  system  are  those  of 
the  middleman  system.  This  is  even  more  pernicious  than 
the  former.  It  is  of  recent  origin  in  its  complicated  form. 
In  a  simpler  condition  of  things  direct  exchange  of  produce 
for  consumptive  goods  took  place.  To-day  we  have  various 
sets  of  middlemen.  One  set  is  known  as  distributing  agents 
in  the  field.  These  agents  act  for  associations  of  either  buy- 
ers or  sellers  in  such  great  distributing  centres  as  Kansas 
City  and  St.  Louis,  and  have  large  directive  powers  over  ship- 
ments. Should  there  be  a  congestion  of  a  certain  form  of 
produce  at  a  given  place  they  may  direct  goods  destined  for 
that  place  to  another  point  in  which  a  scarcity  exists. 

Another  set  are  the  regular  commission  merchants  who 
receive  goods  to  sell  on  a  commission,  and  who  also,  in  some 
instances,  may  divert  goods  from  one  point  to  another.  Then 
there  are  the  jobbers,  of  whom  we  commonly  think  as  whole- 
salers, whose  business  it  is  to  receive  goods  from  importers 
or  from  manufacturers  and  to  sell  them  to  retail  merchants. 
At  the  bottom  of  the  middleman  pyramid  exists  the  retail 
merchant,  from  whom  the  great  mass  of  persons,  including 
the  farmer,  purchase  their  supplies. 

The  causes  of  the  establishment  of  these  various  kinds  of 
middlemen  consist  in  the  larger  markets  which  have  come 
by  reason  of  the  new  system  of  transportation  and  communi- 
cation. Barter  has  been  supplanted,  localism  in  exchange 
is  of  small  moment,  and  in  order  that  goods  may  reach  distant 
points  where  they  are  consumed  specialised  agents  are  needed. 

One  of  the  results  affecting  the  farmer,  by  reason  of  this 
system,  is  the  loss  of  association  on  market  days  which  he  pre- 
viously enjoyed  with  other  farmers  and  buyers.  This  is  es- 
pecially true  where  the  middleman  buys  directly  from  the 
farm.  Another  is  the  loss  which  arises  through  masterful 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     101 

competition  between  middleman  firms  and  which  the  consumer 
sustains  in  the  price  he  pays  for  his  goods.  This  arises  by 
duplication  of  costly  establishments,  the  payment  of  dupli- 
cate forces  of  employes  who  are  idle  most  of  the  week  because 
trade  congests  on  certain  days,  costly  advertising,  duplicate 
field  salesmen,  duplicate  delivery  systems,  and  so  forth. 
Fewer  establishments  could  do  the  business  which  is  carried 
on  in  the  average  village  and  city  at  a  great  saving. 

Still  another  evil,  which  is  now  becoming  portentous,  is  the 
combination  to  control  prices  which  the  various  grades  of 
middlemen  practice.  In  the  higher  grades  it  tends  to  become 
oppressively  monopolistic.  The  combination  may  exist  only 
as  the  "  gentlemen's  agreement,"  or  as  the  "  neighbourly 
kindness  "  of  the  steel  businesses.  It  is  sufficiently  effective 
in  either  case.  In  retail  business  there  are  state  and  city 
associations  of  the  various  lines  of  middlemen. 

In  some  respects  the  latter  form  of  combination  is  the  worst 
of  all.  It  is  scattered,  general,  made  up  of  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  population,  and  is  somewhat  intangible  and 
dangerous  for  purposes  of  legislative  and  legal  reform.  As 
it  succeeds  in  raising  prices  to  successively  higher  levels  each 
merchant  can  live  off  of  a  smaller  volume  of  business.  In 
turn  more  merchants  creep  into  the  business  to  carry  on  the 
same  volume  of  business  which  was  done  by  fewer  concerns 
previously.  The  farmers  and  other  consumers  carry  the  in- 
creased burden. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  investigated  marketing 
conditions  in  1910  to  discover  how  much  the  farmer  gets  of 
the  retail  price.  This  investigation  covered  78  cities  and 
included  milk  and  butter.  The  report  says  "  that  the  milk 
consumers  of  78  cities  paid  for  milk  an  increase  of  100.8  per 
cent,  above  the  price  received  by  dairymen;  in  other  words 
the  farmer's  price  was  fully  doubled.  The  lowest  increase 
among  the  geographic  divisions  was  75.5  per  cent,  in  the 
South  Atlantic  States  and  the  highest  was  111.9  per  cent,  in 


102       CONSTKUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

the  Western  states."  8  Consumers  pay  about  15  per  cent, 
more  than  the  factory  price  for  butter. 

Facts  are  cited  from  the  report  of  the  Industrial  Commis- 
sion relative  to  many  articles.  Although  they  were  obtained 
about  ten  years  ago  it  is  thought  that  the  situation  has  not 
materially  changed  in  that  interval.  Some  very  large  per- 
centages of  increase  were  found — "  135.3  per  cent,  for  cab- 
bage bought  in  the  head ;  100  per  cent,  for  melons  bought  by 
the  pound,  for  buttermilk  sold  by  the  quart,  and  for  oranges 
sold  by  the  crate ;  260  per  cent,  for  onions  bought  by  the  peck ; 
400.4  per  cent,  for  oranges  bought  by  the  dozen;  111.1  per 
cent,  for  strawberries  bought  by  the  quart ;  and  200  per  cent, 
for  watermelons  sold  singly."  Many  articles  sold  to  con- 
sumers at  from  75  to  100  per  cent,  above  the  farmer's  price. 

The  middleman  does  not  absorb  all  in  excess  of  the  farmer's 
selling  price.  Transportation  secures  its  charges.  "  The 
freight  charge  for  milk  received  in  New  York  is  about  18  per 
cent,  of  the  producer's  price  and  in  Chicago  about  14.7  per 
cent.  .  .  .  The  percentages  of  farm  price  for  which  freight 
charges  stand  in  the  United  States  may  be  estimated  at  ap- 
proximately 0.$  of  1  per  cent,  of  the  factory  price  for  butter; 
1.2  per  cent,  of  the  farm  price  for  clover  seed;  1.6  per  cent, 
for  cotton;  1.3  per  cent,  for  eggs;  13.6  per  cent,  for  apples; 
4.8  per  cent,  for  beans;  14.8  per  cent,  for  potatoes;  and  5 
per  cent,  for  sweet  potatoes.  The  rates  for  oats,  rye,  barley, 
and  wheat  are  nearly  the  same,  ranging  from  6  per  cent,  for 
oats  to  7.3  per  cent,  for  barley  and  rye.  The  rate  for  corn 
is  9.2  per  cent,  and  the  average  for  all  grain  is  7.7  per  cent. 
Tor  hay  the  percentage  is  15.8  per  cent. ;  for  cattle  and  hogs, 
2.5  per  cent.;  for  live  poultry,  4.5  per  cent.;  and  for  wool, 
0.6  of  1  per  cent."  9 

Professor  Carver,  in  his  volume  on  rural  economics,  gives 
the  following  facts  relative  to  the  distribution  of  the  ultimate 

s "Year  Book,"  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1910,  p.  24. 
» Ibid.,  p.  25. 


IMPEOVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     103 


cost  of  certain  articles  among  the  various  agents  in  their  pro- 
duction. Only  a  few  articles  are  selected  to  illustrate  the 
point.  (Table  14.) 

TABLE  XIV 

DISTRIBUTION    OF    PROFITS    ON    AGRICULTUBAI,    COMMODITIES 


.     . 

Price 

Price 

What 

What 

Product 

to  pro- 

to con- 

Differ- 

whole- 

re- 

Place 

ducer 

sumer 

ence 

saler 

tailer 

sold 

gets 

gets 

Apples,    Jonathan.. 

$1.66     i 

$3.60 

$1.94 

$0.12 

$1.10 

Boston 

Bacon,  home  cured. 

.08 

.19% 

.11% 

.048 

.03.% 

" 

Beef,    per    100    Ibs, 

steer 

425 

6475 

3  79 

2  85 

0  4885 

ft 

Butter     

.25 

.36 

.11 

072 

(( 

12 

25 

13 

0685 

(e 

ggs 

contractor 

peddler 

Milk 

02  3/ 

08 

05  VA 

02  3/ 

02 

ec 

California  oranges  .  . 

1.612 

3.50 

1.888 

.05 

« 

Potatoes    

.50 

.90 

.40 

.17 

ft 

Rice          

.40 

4.162/0 

3  76% 

1  00 

2.00 

<( 

big  dealer 

Dressed    turkey  .... 

.25 

.38 

.13 

.015 

.08 

III.    BENEFITS    OF    ORGANISATION 

A  different  line  of  action  has  sometimes  been  proposed  as 
an  alternative  to  organisation  on  the  part  of  farmers.  They 
are  asked  to  become  self-sufficient.  The  farmer  is  to  attain 
this  by  becoming  the  consumer  of  his  own  products.  He  thus 
rids  himself  of  dependency  on  corporations. 

This  is  rather  an  absurd  proposal.  It  would  not  relieve 
the  farmer  of  buying  his  groceries,  drygoods,  machinery,  and 
other  supplies  which  corporations  control,  unless,  at  the  same 
time,  he  resorted  to  the  extreme  measure  of  becoming  manu- 
facturer of  these  various  commodities  as  they  exist  in  their 
present  form.  Otherwise  he  would  have  to  return  to  the 


104       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY" 

stage  of  household  manufacture,  and  to  a  state  of  living  which 
would  be  so  primitive  that  few  modern  men  and  women  would 
be  willing  to  adopt  it. 

Value  of  Cooperation. —  The  farmer's  panacea  undoubt- 
edly lies  in  the  direction  of  organisation,  in  a  cooperative  ef- 
fort of  some  form,  rather  than  in  a  resort  to  an  extreme 
individualism.  If  the  farmer  were  not  certain  on  this  point 
he  has  lessons  both  in  the  industrial  and  commercial  world, 
as  well  as  in  that  of  agriculture  at  home  and  abroad.  In  the 
case  of  industry,  commerce,  and  transportation,  independent 
competitive  dealers  and  corporations  existed  during  a  con- 
siderable era.  Rivalry  and  competition  between  them  were 
lively  and  even  destructive  at  times.  Loss  and  demoralisation 
frequently  occurred. 

Out  of  this  internecine  strife  there  gradually  emerged  un- 
derstanding and  cooperation  among  rival  dealers  and  corpo- 
rations. Combination  took  the  place  of  independent  compe- 
tition. Larger  profits  came  instead  of  destructive  losses. 
Peace  and  stability  have  been  accompanying  effects. 

Between  small  organisations  of  agricultural  producers  is 
also  seen  the  destructive  and  demoralising  effects  of  competi- 
tion. For  instance,  in  the  Michigan  grape-producing  region 
exist  several  local  associations  of  grape  growers  for  marketing 
their  produce.  They  operate  on  an  approximate  cooperative 
basis.  But  the  local  associations  compete  with  each  other  in 
dealing  with  commission  houses  for  the  disposal  of  their 
fruit.  This  tends  to  lower  the  price  of  their  grapes,  to  in- 
duce jobbers  to  stimulate  the  inter-associational  rivalry,  and 
weakens  the  organisations,  which  are  otherwise  quite  effective. 

The  local  associations  have  seen  their  weakness.  Local 
pride  and  jealousy  have  prevented  their  amalgamation  into  a 
larger  cooperative  undertaking.  Recently,  however,  meetings 
have  been  held  and  steps  taken  to  effect  such  an  object.  The 
conditions  are  promising  for  a  more  comprehensive  organisa- 
tion among1  the  grape  growers  of  Michigan. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     105 

Requirements  of  Organisation —  Theoretically,  the  nature 
of  the  organisation  the  farmers  should  establish  is  in  question. 
Should  it  be  modelled  on  industrial  combinations  or  strike 
out  on  original  lines?  It  is  true  that  rural  regions  cannot 
expect  to  move  as  fast  as  urban  communities  in  adopting  in- 
ventions and  utilities  for  business  and  comfort.  They  may 
not  be  able  to  adopt  in  the  exact  form  the  things  they  do  take 
over  for  use.  In  their  combinations  for  business  purposes 
they  may  have  to  work  over  and  modify  organisations  to  make 
them  meet  their  purposes. 

The  principles  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  industrial 
organisations  are  applicable  to  those  of  agriculture.  One  of 
these  is  the  practice  of  economy  in  the  internal  arrangement 
and  processes  which  arise  out  of  competitive  conditions.  The 
elimination  of  waste  and  duplication  and  the  circulation  of 
intelligence  which  makes  this  possible  are  means  to  realise 
the  principle.  A  second  principle  is  seen  in  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  trade  against  outside  interests.  Thus  middlemen 
combine  against  producers  of  their  stock  to  lower  the  cost  of 
goods,  and  against  consumers  of  the  articles  they  sell  to  raise 
prices,  leaving  the  trade  a  larger  profit.  A  third  principle 
may  be  observed  in  the  attempt  of  the  trade  to  control  party 
and  governmental  activities  in  the  direction  of  benefiting  its 
own  interests.  Some  of  the  larger  corporations  have  influ- 
enced legislators  in  the  selection  of  senators  in  Congress; 
caucuses  and  conventions  who  nominated  the  legislators  who 
should  prove  approachable;  the  appointment  of  judges  who 
should  decide  their  cases  in  court ;  departmental  appointments 
and  administration  in  the  government  at  Washington;  and 
Congress  of  the  United  States  in  its  legislative  activities. 

There  is  a  further  requirement  which  is  imposed  on  agri- 
cultural organisations,  if  the  farmers  would  become  independ- 
ent economically  as  a  class.  This  is  the  one  which  arises 
out  of  the  food  demands  of  the  world  made  by  the  populations 
of  the  great  cities.  To  meet  the  necessities  of  this  situation 


106       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY] 

food  must  be  transported  rapidly,  for  the  oranges  of  Cali- 
fornia, for  example,  are  mostly  consumed  over  2,500  miles 
outside  the  state.  It  must  be  sent  regularly  for  the  demand 
is  constant.  It  must  be  of  such  uniform  quality  that  a  sample 
will  represent  the  supply  at  large.  Individual  farmers  are 
not  fitted  to  meet  these  demands.  Local  organisations  are  not 
competent.  Only  wider  combinations,  such  as  are  seen 
among  the  orange-growers  of  California  and  the  Pacific  Coast, 
would  be  able  to  fulfil  the  conditions. 

Denmark  as  an  Object  Lesson. —  Object  lessons  sufficient 
exist  to  indicate  the  sort  of  combination  agriculturists  require. 
The  growth  of  the  cooperative  movement  during  the  last  few 
decades  among  the  farmers  of  the  world,  covering  not  only 
the  marketing  of  their  products,  but  undertaking  the  even 
more  difficult  task  of  selling  supplies  of  all  sorts  to  themselves, 
furnishes  significant  examples. 

Abroad,  Denmark  affords  the  most  striking  illustration  of 
the  benefits  of  cooperative  undertakings  among  rural  popula- 
tions. It  may  be  said  that  agricultural  Denmark  has  been 
redeemed  by  the  movement.  All  its  chief  products  are  han- 
dled by  cooperative  associations,  such  as  dairy  products,  eggs, 
and  bacon.  Relative  to  bacon,  the  federated  slaughtering 
associations  are  so  strong  that  they  established  a  competitor 
in  London  to  meet  the  competition  of  a  bacon  trust  and 
eventually  destroyed  the  latter. 

The  importance  of  the  factor  of  cooperation  is  well  brought 
out  in  the  report  of  the  Scottish  agricultural  commission  in 
1904.  They  observe :  "  It  may  be  said  that  the  dominant 
feature  of  Danish  agriculture  is  the  thoroughness  of  its  or- 
ganisation. From  the  local  associations  supplying  the  farmer 
with  his  requirements  and  purchasing  the  produce  of  the  land, 
to  the  great  trading  corporation  having  their  headquarters  in 
Copenhagen,  a  network  of  cooperative  societies,  all  federated 
together,  covers  the  whole  agricultural  work.  As  the  middle- 
man is  largely  dispensed  with,  and  most  of  the  local  buying 


IMPKOYEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     107 

and  selling  is  done  practically  for  ready  money,  a  great  deal 
of  additional  profit  is  secured  to  the  producer  which  in  other 
countries  is  lost.  By  the  separation  of  the  commercial  from 
the  productive  side  of  agriculture  a  most  useful  division  of 
labour  is  secured.  The  trading  is  carried  out  wholesale  by 
especially  skilled  men  who  are  fully  occupied,  so  that  the  in- 
dividual farmer  is  free  to  devote  his  whole  time  and  energy 
to  getting  as  much  as  possible  from  the  land." 

The  movement  has  enlightened  the  farmer  as  to  what  edu- 
cation should  be.  Panning  there  is  fast  becoming  a  science, 
and  to  equip  the  youth  for  their  occupation  the  schools  have 
been  made  responsive  to  the  needs  of  farm  communities. 
This  breeds  general  intelligence  and  a  comprehension  of  the 
principles  of  science.  It  has  also  enlightened  the  farmer  as 
to  what  are  his  rights  and  privileges  as  a  class  among  other 
classes. 

In  order  to  secure  justice  the  farmer  has  entered  the  po- 
litical arena.  Having  the  majority  of  voters  he  has  filled 
the  popular  house  of  the  national  legislature  with  members 
representative  of  his  interests.  They  have  proceeded  to  create 
land  laws  which  are  gradually  breaking  up  the  large  feudal 
estates  and  making  it  possible  for  the  poor  man  to  obtain 
small  holdings.  Administrative  officers  in  the  ministry  or 
cabinet  are  also  of  agrarian  extraction.  The  prosperity  of 
Denmark  under  the  effects  of  the  cooperative  movement  is 
beyond  anything  it  has  ever  seen  before.  Marketing  its 
products  and  buying  goods  for  its  members  at  most  advan- 
tageous terms,  it  has  accomplished  for  the  mass  of  the  popula- 
tion what,  in  America,  the  great  corporations  have  accom- 
plished for  the  few. 

In  America  the  cooperative  movement  is  rapidly  extending 
among  the  farmers  and  is  bringing  undoubted  advantages  to 
them.  One  of  the  most  notable  is  the  California  Fruit  Grow- 
ers' Exchange,  which  handles  from  60  to  TO  per  cent,  of  the 
citrous  fruit  grown  in  the  state  and  does  a  business  ranging 


108       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

from  $20,000,000  to  $25,000,000  a  year.  It  has  over  100 
packing  houses,  13  district  and  96  local  exchanges,  and  about 
6,000  members. 

Farmers'  Grain  Dealers  Associations  are  becoming  impor- 
tant economic  agencies.  These  associations  have  done  much 
to  elevate  the  price  of  grain.  They  own  multitudes  of  local 
elevators  and  are  moving  toward  securing  terminal  elevators. 
They  also  desire  uniform  Federal  inspection  of  grain.  The 
local  associations  have  become  large  distributors  of  staple 
commodities  in  their  communities.  There  is  a  marked  tend- 
ency in  the  movement  to  become  more  cooperative  in  the 
technical  sense,  demanding  stricter  fealty  of  members  and 
giving  them  advantages  not  possessed  by  outside  patrons. 

This  tendency  to  become  more  strictly  cooperative  is  in  line 
with  the  advice  of  Sir  Horace  Plunkett.  He  says  the  em- 
phasis in  farmers'  organisations  must  be  laid  on  equitable  dis- 
tribution of  profits,  risks,  and  control,  and  this  admonition 
comes  out  of  his  twenty  years  of  experience  in  organising 
agricultural  societies  in  Ireland. 

Facts  relative  to  the  constitution  and  character  of  agricul- 
tural organisations  in  the  United  States  will  be  given  in  a 
later  chapter.  The  reader  is  referred  to  that  portion  of  the 
volume  for  fuller  particulars. 

EEFERENCES 

Rural  Manhood,  January,  1911,  "Progress  of  Agricultural  Coopera- 
tors." 

Bailey.     "The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  pp.  114-116;  118-122. 

"  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States,"  1910, 
pp.  79-81. 

Kirby,  P.  M.     "  The  Middleman  in  Practice,"  pp.  239-41. 

"  Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  Vol.  IV:  215-16. 

Fetter,  F.  A.     "Theory  of  the  Middleman,"  same,  232-9. 

Bulletin  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  of  Nebraska,  Vol. 
XXIII,  Article  VII. 

Rogers,  Arthur  A.  L.  "  Business  Side  of  Agriculture,"  pp.  10-11. 
Methuen  &  Co.,  London,  1904. 

Chicago  Record-Herald,  articles  by  W.  E.  Curtis,  December  8,  1909. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  BUSINESS  SIDE     109 

Harwood.     "  The  New  Earth,"  Chap.  15. 

Report  of  the  Country  Life  Commission,  pp.  33-4 ;  53-6. 

Plunkett,  Sir  Horace.  "Rural  Problem  of  the  United  States," 
Chap.  5. 

Rysgaard,  J.  M.,  Fellow  in  University  of  Chicago.  "  Cooperation  in 
Denmark."  Paper  read  before  the  Fortnightly  Club,  Grand  Forks,  N.  D., 
published  in  Grand  Forks  Herald,  March  18,  1910. 

Howe,  F.  C.  "  A  Commonwealth  Ruled  by  Farms."  Outlook,  February 
26,  1910,  p.  441. 

Payne,  Will.  "Cooperation  the  Small  Man's  Salvation."  Saturday 
Evening  Post,  February  19,  1910  and  March  12,  1910. 

Chicago  Record-Herald,  May  5,  1911.  "Orange  Farmers  Save  For- 
tunes by  Cooperation,"  W.  E.  Curtis. 

Everitt,  J.  A.,  Founder  of  the  Society  of  Equity  of  North  America, 
Indianapolis.  "  The  Third  Power." 

"  Constitution  and  By-Laws  of  the  American  Society  of  Equity  of 
North  America,"  Indianapolis. 

"  The  American  Society  of  Equity,  Sixty-five  Important  Questions 
Answered,"  Indianapolis. 

"  The  American  Society  of  Equity, —  a  few  pointers  about  the  plans 
of  the  grain  growers  in  district  No.  1.  American  Society  of  Equity," 
Chas.  N.  Pierson. 

McVey,  Frank  L.     "  Railway  Transportation,"  Pt.  I,  Chap.  3. 

Carver,  T.  N.     "  Principles  of  Rural  Economics,"  p.  330. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   IMPROVEMENT    OF    TBJLXSPOBTATKXN"   AND 
COMMUNICATION 

I.    SOCIAL,   AND   ECONOMIC    ASPECTS 

Some  writers  regard  improvement  of  communication  and 
transportation  as  the  most  important  step  in  rural  social  bet- 
terment In  their  estimation  the  breaking  up  of  isolation 
is  the  most  serious  task  and  the  improvement  and  extension 
of  these  agencies  will  accomplish  this.  Others  see  another 
side.  They  believe  the  perfecting  of  these  agencies  will 
bring  the  city  nearer  to  the  country,  increase  its  drawing 
power  over  rural  populations,  and  so  injure  the  country.  But 
as  we  shall  discover  the  advantages  outweigh  the  evils  and 
make  the  improvement  of  rural  communication  and  trans- 
portation positively  desirable. 

Significance  for  Civilisation. —  The  general  influence  of 
good  highways  on  community  life  is  seen  in  the  case  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  In  modern  times  before  the  advent  of  the 
railway  it  was  regarded  as  impossible  to  maintain  a  govern- 
ment in  America  stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 
Should  the  Pacific  Coast  region  undertake  to  secede  the  great 
distance  from  the  seat  of  government  would  effectually  pre- 
vent coercion.  And  being  so  remote  it  would  most  likely 
have  little  communion  with  the  rest  of  the  nation,  and  would 
build  up  its  own  customs  and  interests,  which  would  inevi- 
tably lead  to  dismemberment. 

But  could  America  have  constructed  permanent  roadways 
across  the  continent  the  case  would  have  been  different.  For 
the  Roman  Government  controlled  a  wider  and  more  diverse 

110 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  TRANSPORTATION     111 

area  for  centuries,  marched  its  armies,  sent  its  dispatches  by 
carriers  at  the  speed  of  over  a  hundred  miles  a  day,  and 
carried  on  commerce  with  its  parts  and  with  other  nations. 
Only  by  means  of  its  roads,  some  of  which  may  be  seen  in 
a  good  state  of  preservation  to-day,  was  this  larger  community 
life  possible.  And  the  establishment  of  that  larger  control 
was  immensely  important  for  laying  the  ideal  and  principles 
of  government,  securing  tranquillity  for  peaceful  pursuits, 
and  extending  civilisation  to  inferior  peoples. 

This  larger  aspect  of  the  case  is  not  entirely  lost  to-day  in 
spite  of  the  advent  of  railways,  telegraph,  and  telephone. 
There  will  always  exist  large  districts  remote  from  railways 
and  trolleys,  particularly  in  declivitous  regions.  These  will 
depend  on  highways  for  transportation  and  mail.  More- 
over, the  project  of  building  a  great  boulevard  across  the 
continent,  which  is  under  discussion,  and  that  of  establishing 
a  Meridian  Road  from  Winnipeg  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
which  is  now  being  carried  out,  indicate  that  the  advent  of 
motor  cars  has  renewed  the  pleasures  of  highway  travel.  The 
existence  of  good  roads  will  extend  the  larger  community 
satisfaction  in  this  and  other  directions. 

Social  Function  of  Better  Communication. —  The  advent 
of  the  telephone  and  rural  mail  delivery  into  country  life  has 
a  marked  influence  on  the  life  of  the  people.  The  outside 
world  is  brought  near.  Its  news  and  ideas  become  a  part 
of  the  daily  life  and  thoughts  of  the  country.  Weather  pre- 
dictions for  the  safety  of  crops  and  for  the  pleasure  and  dress 
of  farmers  become  available.  Market  reports  of  grains, 
fruit,  garden  produce,  and  stock  may  be  known  each  hour 
of  the  day.  The  wonderful  pleasure  and  advantages  of  the 
daily  paper  is  open  to  every  one.  The  feeling  of  being  abso- 
lutely separated  from  the  big  world  and  of  having  no  part 
in  its  life  gives  way  to  a  satisfaction  of  knowing  about  it  and 
entering  into  its  affairs.  Distant  friends  are  brought  closer. 
More  frequent  correspondence  comes  as  a  consequence. 


112       CONSTKUCTIVE  BUBAL  SOCIOLOGY 

Small  parcels  of  goods  are  sometimes  conveyed  to  farmers 
along  the  rural  route.  When  the  parcels  post  becomes  a 
reality  this  agency  will  have  an  enormous  patronage. 

As  a  matter  of  justice  that  half  of  our  population  which 
lives  in  the  country  has  the  same  right  of  receiving  its  daily 
mail  as  has  the  city  people.  Perhaps  it  is  impracticable  at 
present  to  give  this  to  people  in  remote  and  little  settled  re- 
gions. But  the  major  part  of  country  inhabitants  could  and 
should  be  reached.  The  cost  of  the  extension  is  not  great. 
The  last  figures  at  hand  indicate  that  it  is  92.7  cents  per 
capita.  That  seems  ridiculously  low  in  view  of  the  benefits 
received.  Yet  an  Illinois  community  refused  to  patronise 
the  rural  mail  service  because  it  was  supposed  it  would  in- 
crease the  taxes,  forcing  the  Government  to  withdraw  it. 

Some  of  the  effects  of  the  rural  mail  service  may  be  noted- 
First,  about  1903,  it  had  increased  the  amount  of  mail  han- 
dled over  40  per  cent.,  the  number  of  letters  registered,  57 
per  cent.,  the  sale  of  postage  stamps,  24  per  cent.,  and  the 
newspaper  mail  from  50  to  300  per  cent.,  according  to  the 
region.  The  growth  of  fourth  class  mail  matter  has  been 
large.  This  consists  chiefly  of  small  articles  purchased  by 
mail  from  the  city  stores.  In  a  certain  county  in  Maryland 
the  fourth  class  matter  has  increased  90  per  cent.,  which  is 
almost  entirely  merchandise  purchased  by  the  women  folk 
from  the  shops  in  Baltimore  through  the  mails.  That  the 
city  merchants  are  responding  to  their  opportunities  for  trade 
is  shown  by  an  increase  of  54  per  cent,  in  the  circulars  and 
advertising  matter  delivered  by  the  rural  carriers. 

Second,  another  and  not  unnatural  effect  of  the  system  is 
the  improvement  of  highways  throughout  the  country.  In 
locating  free  delivery  routes  the  conditions  of  the  roads  is 
always  an  important  consideration  and  many  petitions  have 
been  denied  on  the  ground  that  the  highways  were  not  fit  for 
travel  during  the  muddy  months  of  the  year.  This  point  is 
now  understood  and  nearly  every  petition  that  goes  into  the 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  TRANSPORTATION     113 

United  States  Mail  Department  at  Washington  is  accom- 
panied by  an  offer  or  a  pledge  on  the  part  of  the  county  com- 
missioners to  improve  the  rdads  and  to  put  them  in  fit  con- 
dition as  rapidly  as  the  new  system  is  established. 

Third,  another  benefit  is  the  increased  valuation  of  country 
property.  Frequently  an  increase  in  value  of  $2  or  more 
per  acre  is  given  farms  lying  along  these  routes* 

The  service  of  the  telephone  in  rural  life  in  promoting 
social  solidarity  is  noteworthy.  Neighbours  are  brought 
nearer  to  each,  other.  Easy  communication  between  the 
housewives  breaks  up  much  of  the  loneliness  and  unsatisfied 
craving  for  association.  Matters  of  business  are  attended 
to  easily.  Those  of  neighbourhood  importance  receive  at- 
tention which  would  otherwise  be  neglected.  Social  organ- 
isation and  neighbourhood  welfare,  where  planning  and 
conference  is  necessary,  finds  in  the  telephone  its  greatest 
assistant.  The  following  facts  show  the  widespread  use  of 
the  telephone,  table  15. 

TABLE  XV 

TELEPHONES  IN  CORN  BELT  STATES 

. 

1907  1902 

Iowa    174,155  58,364 

Illinois    170,343  49,440 

Ohio    131,164:  24,236 

Indiana  115,086  28,190 

Missouri     113,528  26,510 

Kansas    96,455  3,509 

"  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  number  of  telephones  nearly 

trebled  in  most  of  the  states  during  the  five  years  from  1902 

to  1907.     In  Iowa  and  Illinois,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 

there  is  an  average  of  nearly  one  telephone  for  every  farm, 

I  there   being    190,000   farms   in   Iowa   and    174,000    rural 

1   'phones."1 

Social  Function  of  Roads. —  1.  Many  of  the  services  which 
the  mail  system  and  the  telephone  perform  for  the  country  are 
i  Rural  Manhood,  January,  1911,  p.  9. 


CONSTBUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

also  in  a  measure  promoted  by  good  roads.  Good  roads  lie  at 
the  basis  of  the  social  institutions  and  associational  life  of  the 
rural  district.  In  a  previous  connection  we  saw  the  advantage 
and  necessity  of  getting  together  to  promote  common  interests. 
For  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  who  do  not  have  street  rail- 
ways, pavements,  or  sidewalks  recourse  must  be  bad  to  the 
highways.  Their  condition  determines  the  amount  of  con- 
course of  a  neighbourhood.  Visiting,  exchange  of  ideas  and 
promotion  of  neighbourhood  plans,  interchange  of  courtesies, 
extension  of  fellowship,  church  and  school  attendance,  the 
advancement  of  lodges,  institutes,  societies  of  equity  and 
other  farm  organisations,  entertainments,  sports,  amusements, 
spelling  matches,  music  classes,  women's  clubs,  young  peo- 
ple's clubs,  and  kindred  organisations,  are  affected  by  the 
state  of  the  highways.  Should  the  churches  of  a  region 
desire  to  consolidate  the  plan  only  becomes  feasible  if  the 
roads  warrant  it.  People  in  the  outlying  districts  will  not 
consent  to  drive  far  over  bad  roads. 

School  consolidation  is  dependent  on  the  state  of  the  high- 
ways. The  transportation  of  pupils  over  long  routes  is  im- 
possible where  their  condition  is  very  bad.  In  five  bad-road 
states  the  average  attendance  of  pupils  enrolled  is  fifty-nine, 
and  in  five  good-road  states  it  is  seventy-eight  out  of  a  hun- 
dred. In  parts  of  Ohio  and  Indiana  where  school  consoli- 
dation has  taken  place,  children  are  carried  to  school,  attend- 
ance is  increased,  their  health  is  promoted,  and  the  evils  of 
isolation  are  reduced.  School  consolidation  is  one  of  the 
very  greatest  agencies  of  the  all  around  improvement  of 
rural  society.  This  alone  creates  a  mighty  demand  for  good 
highways. 

The  advantages  of  distant  cities  and  villages  are  brought 
near  to  farmers.  With  the  use  of  automobiles  the  time  re- 
quired to  go  a  distance  is  reduced  to  one-fourth.  Quick 
repairs  of  machinery  are  also  made  possible. 

2.  The  economy  which  comes  from  good  roads  is  great. 


IMPEOVEMENT  OF  TRANSPORTATION     115 

(1)  The  cost  of  hauling  is  reduced.  "  The  cost  of  hauling 
twelve  principal  crops  to  shipping  points  in  the  United  States 
during  the  crop  year  1905-6  has  been  estimated  by  the  Bureau 
of  Statistics  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  as  $72,984,000. 
This  excludes  crops  hauled  to  local  mills.  .  .  .  The  farmer's 
expense  of  hauling  is  greatly  increased  by  bad  roads.  He 
may  be  obliged  to  deliver  his  product  at  the  local  shipping 
point  when  prices  are  low  and  the  roads  passable,  or  wait 
for  a  better  market  and  run  the  risk  of  having  to  haul  over 
rough  roads  with  more  horses  to  the  wagon  and  a  much 
lighter  load.  The  expense  of  hauling  under  these  difficulties 
may  amount  to  double  or  even  four  times  the  normal  cost."  2 

A  large  amount  of  perishable  merchandise  could  also  be 
saved  if  the  highways  enabled  its  movement  at  the  appro- 
priate time.  There  are  over  $2,000,000,000  worth  of  mules 
and  horses  in  the  United  States.  Double  their  hauling  ca- 
pacity or  increase  it  by  20  per  cent,  and  an  enormous  amount 
of  wealth  is  created.  With  the  use  of  motor  tractors  Eng- 
land has  cut  the  cost  of  hauling  farm  products  to  market  to 
four  cents  per  ton-mile.  Eighteen  years  ago  the  European 
cost  of  hauling  was  eighteen  cents.  (2)  Truck  and  small- 
fruit  farming  are  dependent  on  good  roads.  (3)  Land  val- 
ues rise  with  road  improvement.  Professor  Latta,  of  Purdue 
University,  made  an  investigation  that  showed  an  average 
increase  of  five  dollars  an  acre  in  territory  where  roads  have 
been  improved.  United  States  Government  investigations 
indicate  "  that  the  average  percentage  of  improved  roads  in 
all  states  where  the  land  is  worth  less  than  $20  per  acre  is 
1.9  per  cent.,  whereas  in  the  states  showing  an  acreage  value 
of  more  than  $20  improved  roads  constitute  an  average  of  9 
per  cent,  of  the  total  mileage."  3 

(4)  Wear  and  tear  on  horses,  harness,  and  wagons  would 
be  reduced  and  entail  a  large  saving.  (5)  Uniform  traffic 

2  "  Roads  and  Road  Building,"  Office  of  Public  Roads,  U.  S.  Dept.  of 
Agr.,  p.  3. 

i(2.,  p.  3. 


116      CONSTRUCTIVE  EUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

for  the  railroads  instead  of  congestion  at  times  and  unused 
rolling  stock  at  others  would  produce  a  saving  for  them. 
Now  the  falling  off  of  traffic  at  country  stations  is  as  high 
as  fifty  per  cent,  when  roads  are  bad. 

H.    THE   IMPROVEMENT    OF   ROADS 

Several  things  are  necessary  in  order  to  secure  good  high- 
ways. The  education  of  farmers  to  the  need  and  methods  of 
improvement,  the  adoption  of  a  better  method  of  administra- 
tion, and  investigation  and  training  in  best  ways  of  construc- 
tion are  necessary  items. 

An  Educated  Public. —  Securing  a  public  opinion  which 
will  move  individuals  and  communities  to  take  appropriate 
action  is  an  educational  process  which,  like  other  reform 
processes,  takes  much  time  to  accomplish.  This  process  of 
enlightenment  has  been  under  way  for  some  time,  but  as  yet 
only  a  small  part  of  the  nation  is  affected.  Farmers'  insti- 
tutes, in  which  talks  and  discussions  relative  to  roads  take 
place,  and  whose  object  lessons  and  demonstrations  as  to 
methods  of  road-building  occur,  are  effective  agencies. 

Commercial  clubs  of  cities  are  agitating  and  discussing 
good  roads.  The  motive  seems  to  be  twofold.  Good  roads 
about  a  city  extend  the  commercial  territory  as  far  as  they 
prevail.  Automobile  owners  who  are  members  of  commer- 
cial clubs  desire  the  improvement  of  highways  so  they  may 
have  longer  and  better  motoring  courses.  Sometimes  a  sci- 
entific element  enters.  In  a  certain  club  a  university  pro- 
fessor of  engineering  is  chairman  of  the  roads  committee  and 
gives  illustrated  talks  on  highway  betterment.  The  club  has 
undertaken  to  drag  a  certain  stretch  of  road  near  the  city 
as  an  object  lesson  in  road  building. 

Agricultural  colleges  give  instruction  in  road  construction, 
and  their  students,  especially  the  short-term  students,  return- 
ing to  the  farms  become  exponents  of  the  idea.  The  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  conducts  investigations  and 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  TRANSPORTATION     117 

experiments  in  road-building  and  the  use  of  the  best  materials 
adapted  to  different  communities.  Its  experts  build  model 
roads  at  local  expense  but  under  Government  expert  direc- 
tion as  object  lessons  in  a  given  region.  During  1910,  55 
such  object  lessons  were  conducted,  "  each  constituting  a 
miniature  school  of  road-building,  comprising  10  distinct 
types  of  construction."  By  an  annual  inspection  of  roads 
the  Office  of  Public  Koads  has  learned  that  during  1910,  2.2 
short  sections  of  model  roads  "  had  directly  resulted  in  the 
building  of  730  miles  of  additional  roads  according  to  the 
same  method,  and  had  brought  about  an  expenditure,  through 
bond  issues,  of  $1,500,000."  4 

The  Public  Roads  Office  has  broadened  its  educational 
programme.  The  men  who  direct  the  investigative  work  and 
construction  and  maintenance  of  object-lesson  roads  chiefly 
carry  it  on  in  the  way  of  lectures,  addresses,  and  papers.  In 
1910  they  gave  523  lectures  and  addresses,  as  compared  with 
185  the  previous  year.  The  Office  instructs  young  engineers 
in  road  building  and  these  are  called  into  positions  as  road 
engineers.  The  Secretary's  report  says,  "  a  capable,  progres^ 
sive  engineer  constitutes  an  infinitely  greater  force  in  the 
movement "  than  object-lesson  roads,  because  he  goes  on 
year  after  year  in  the  work  of  road  improvement. 

Good-roads  associations  are  at  work  in  various  parts  of 
the  country.  Usually  they  work  individually  and  at  cross 
purposes.  Cooperation  is  needed.  California  shows  what 
united  effort  will  accomplish.  The  legislature  recently  au- 
thorised a  bond  issue  of  $18,000,000  to  improve  the  highways 
of  the  state.  Two  main  highways  to  run  the  entire  length 
of  the  state  are  to  be  built.  Several  counties  have  entered 
the  movement.  The  people  of  Los  Angeles  have  issued  $3,- 
500,000  bonds  to  pay  for  the  construction  of  a  complete  sys- 
tem of  macadamised  road  radiating  in  every  direction  from 
that  city,  and  for  a  wide  boulevard  running  direct  from  the 

*  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  1910,  pp.  153-4. 


118      CONSTRUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY. 

city  to  the  harbour  at  San  Pedro.  Santa  Barbara  County 
has  raised  $125,000  and  is  building  roads  with  a  heavy  rock 
base  and  a  surface  of  crushed  granite  mixed  with  oil.  The 
good-roads  movement  is  active  all  over  the  West,  particularly 
in  Colorado,  Texas,  Oklahoma,  and  Arkansas. 

The  Government  and  the  big  corporations  of  the  country 
have  cooperated  to  form  the  American  Association  for  High- 
way Improvement.  Government  officials  and  heads  of  rail- 
way systems  constitute  the  officers.  A  board  of  directors 
composed  of  eminent  men  from  various  walks  of  life  is  behind 
the  Association.  Their  motive  is  commercial  and  philan- 
thropic. They  believe  it  will  save  the  country  $800,000,000 
yearly,  steady  the  food  market,  and  break  the  social  isolation 
of  the  rural  districts. 

Modes  of  Road  Construction. —  A  brief  account  of  the 
modes  of  road  construction  will  prove  suggestive.  The  Gov- 
ernment, in  its  directive  work,  seeks  to  find  the  most  avail- 
able material  which  is  the  most  economical  for  the  different 
regions  of  the  nation.  In  the  South,  for  instance,  large 
areas  of  clay  regions  exist.  These  clays  are  sticky  and 
plastic.  Unimproved  roads  become  impassable.  Sand  nor 
stone  abound  for  improvement.  Fortunately,  forests  do 
abound.  It  is  found  that  these  clays  may  be  burned  so  as 
to  destroy  their  plastic  properties  and  to  harden  into  brick- 
like  lumps  capable  of  sustaining  traffic.  Data  kept  on  300 
feet  of  this  road  construction  shows  an  expense  of  $83.95. 
A  mile  at  this  rate  would  cost  only  $1,478.40  and  would  have 
the  advantage  of  being  permanent.  In  other  portions  of  the 
South  a  sand-clay  construction  is  used.  Its  cost  ranges  from 
$200  to  $1,200  per  mile,  being  mostly  from  $300  to  $800. 
It  is  permanent  in  quality,  subject  to  easy  repair,  and  en- 
ables six  bales  of  cotton  being  hauled,  whereas  previously  a 
bale  would  be  a  load. 

In  some  states  gravel  and  stone  are  abundant.  In  such 
cases  very  durable  roads  may  be  secured  at  a  cost,  which  a 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  TRANSPORTATION     119 

few  years  under  our  present  costly  system  of  local  supervi- 
sion and  patchwork  plan,  would  cover.  The  permanence  of 
such  roads  should  recommend  them.  The  primary  cost  would 
be  almost  the  only  one.  Shell  roads  are  constructed  in  some 
portions  of  the  East  and  South  where  oyster  shells  may  be. 
secured  cheaply.  They  are  less  durable  than  broken  stone 
or  gravel  and  demand  more  constant  attention. 

Many  of  the  roads  of  the  central  and  western  states  are 
being  kept  in  a  serviceable  state  by  means  of  the  split  log 
drag.  This  is  a  very  simple  and  inexpensive  device  which 
was  invented  by  Mr.  D.  W.  King  of  Iowa.  There  are  about 
2,000,000  miles  of  earth  roads  in  the  whole  country  which 
may  be  kept  in  repair  economically  by  its  use.  A  primary 
grading  is  necessary.  Then  an  occasional  use  of  the  drag, 
easily  drawn  by  two  horses,  especially  a  day  or  two  following 
rains,  is  all  that  is  required. 

Not  only  the  western  but  the  eastern  states,  and  even  Euro- 
pean countries  are  employing  this  device.  A  road  official 
north  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  reports  an  annual  saving  of 
83  per  cent,  by  its  use.  It  is  found  to  work  well  not  only 
on  earth  roads  but  on  factory  city  streets  composed  of  a  slag 
consisting  of  clinkers,  lime,  and  steel;  and  even  on  the 
"  black-waxy,"  or  "  buckshot,"  roadways  which  are  the  terror 
of  the  South.  Such  a  road  near  Helena,  Arkansas,  impas- 
sable in  open  winters  for  forty  years,  responded  to  its  use, 
so  that  even  in  an  unusually  wet  winter,  four  mules  were 
able  to  draw  ten  bales  of  cotton  over  it. 

Requisite  Administration. —  Road  administration  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  road  improvement.  The  present  system 
of  leaving  the  construction  of  roads  to  small  communities  is 
logically  a  very  poor  one.  The  delivery  of  United  States 
mail  might  as  well  be  left  to  every  little  school  district  and 
township  in  the  United  States  in  expectation  of  an  efficient 
mail  service.  Because  a  mile  of  road  lies  within  a  road 
district  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  the  whole  interest  in 


120      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

having  a  mile  of  good  road  at  that  point  is  located  within  the 
confines  of  that  district.  Perhaps  the  people  most  interested 
in  having  a  good  road  at  that  point  live  outside  the  district. 
If  a  farmer  lives  six  miles  from  town  where  he  has  to  sell 
his  grain  he  is  interested  in  having  a  good  hard  road-bed  all 
the  way.  But  if  the  building  of  that  road  is  left  to  several 
different  districts  along  the  way  he  may  be  forever  condemned 
to  a  state  of  bad  roads.  The  matter  ought  to  be  vested  in  a 
larger  community  than  the  road  district  or  the  township.  It 
is  a  matter  for  state  or  national  enterprise,  by  means  of  which 
roads  will  be  systematised,  and  will  be  erected  and  established 
as  systematically  as  are  our  mail  routes  for  city  and  country. 

The  report  of  the  good  roads  commission  appointed  by  the 
state  legislature  of  Illinois  says,  relative  to  the  waste  and 
graft  of  the  present  township  road  commissioner  system : 

"  We  find  enough  taxes  are  levied  in  Illinois  annually,  if 
expended  in  an  economical,  uniform,  and  systematic  manner 
under  the  supervision  of  a  practical  head,  to  construct  a  sys- 
tem of  highways,  intra-township,  intra-county,  and  intra- 
state,  that  would  be  a  monument  to  the  progressive  character 
of  the  people  of  the  state  and  add  materially  to  the  prosperity 
of  every  community."  Much  petty  grafting  was  discovered. 

"  There  should  be  legislation  taking  the  sole  power  of  lay- 
ing out  roads  or  repairing  or  building  the  same  from  the 
township  or  road  district  commissioners,  that  should  require 
these  commissioners  to  file  an  itemised  report  of  their  financial 
transactions  with  some  responsible  central  head  that  would 
require  a  plat  of  all  roads  to  be  filed  of  record  and  a  report  of 
the  character  of  material  and  manner  of  construction  and 
their  condition  at  least  once  a  year. 

"  There  should  be  a  superintendent  of  roads  in  each  county 
whose  duty  it  should  be  to  oversee  and  supervise  the  laying 
out  and  construction  and  repairing  of  all  roads  in  his  county 
with  the  end  in  view  that  these  roads  should  become  intra- 
township  and  intra-county  lines,  thereby  connecting  up  the 


IMPEOVEMENT  OF  TKANSPOKTATION     121 

main  points  and  in  time  creating  a  network  of  good  roads 
throughout  the  state." 

A  Government  report  makes  the  following  recommenda- 
tions for  administration  betterment.  "  A  good  system  would 
be  to  have  a  highway  engineer  competent  to  pass  upon  any 
question  affecting  the  construction  or  maintenance  of  roads 
placed  in  charge  of  the  road  work  of  the  county.  He  should 
report  directly  to  the  county  court.  This  engineer  should  be 
responsible  for  road  construction;  for  the  repair  and  main- 
tenance of  roads ;  should  prepare  contracts  and  specifications ; 
repair  and  maintain  bridges;  have  charge  of  all  road  ma- 
chinery and  purchase  all  material,  and  should  account  reg- 
ularly to  the  county  court  for  all  money  expended  under  his 
direction.  If  one  county  could  not  afford  to  employ  an 
engineer,  two  or  three  counties  might  share  the  expense  and 
the  benefits.  Under  the  engineer's  immediate  jurisdiction 
should  be  placed  a  certain  number  of  skilled  road  supervisors 
or  road  overseers,  each  having  a  given  territory  for  which 
he  is  responsible.  In  his  territory  the  overseer  should  have 
direct  supervision  over  every  road  gang,  and  each  gang  should 
be  in  charge  of  a  foreman.  Under  this  system  of  organisa- 
tion there  would  be  no  waste  of  public  revenues  in  ill-con- 
ducted efforts  at  road-building,  for  every  item  of  work  per- 
formed would  be  a  part  of  a  general  system  devised  in  the 
office  of  the  highway  engineer  and  approved  by  the  county 
court. 

"  In  some  cases  it  might  be  found  better  to  centralise  the 
road  work  and  authority  of  the  state  under  direction  of  a 
state  engineer,  with  his  corps  of  assistant  engineers  acting  in 
lieu  of  the  county  engineers  described  in  the  last  paragraph. 
This  state  system  would  probably  have  the  advantage  of  less 
aggregate  outlay  for  engineers  and  provide  a  more  methodical 
system  of  county  roads;  but  on  the  other  hand,  there  would 
be  lacking  an  intimate  knowledge  of  local  needs  and  condi- 
tions which  would  be  possessed  by  the  county  engineer.  The 


122       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

state  system  would  also  weaken  in  a  measure  local  authority 
over  roads."  5 

Just  what  system  will  prevail  will  be  a  matter  of  experi- 
ence. Road  administration  is  in  a  transitional  and  forma- 
tive state  and  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  it  be  directed 
along  right  lines.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  a  larger  admin- 
istrative unit  and  control  is  demanded. 

6  "  Roads  and  Road  Building,"  Bulletin,  Office  of  Public  Roads,  U.  S. 
Dept.  of  Agr.,  p.  11. 

REFERENCES 

Butterfield.    "  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress/*  pp.  17-22. 

"Good  Roads  Without  Money,"  D.  Ward  King,  Saturday  Evening 
Post,  May  7,  1910. 

"  Hastening  the  Millenium,"  Thomas  F.  Logan,  same,  March  4,  1911. 

Curtis,  W.  E.     Letter  to  Chicago  Record- Herald,  June  8,  1911. 

"  Good  Roads  in  Arkansas,"  Memphis  Commercial  Appeal,  reproduced 
in  Grand  Forks  Herald  (North  Dakota),  June  28,  1911. 

"Report  of  Illinois  Good-roads  Commission,"  Chicago  Record- Heraldt 
April  13,  1911. 

Henderson,  Charles  R.     "  Social  Spirit  in  America,"  Chap.  6. 

"  Rural  Telephones  in  the  Corn  Belt,"  Rural  Manhood,  January,  1911, 
p.  9. 

"  Year  Book,"  Department  of  Agriculture,  1906,  p.  521  for  road  laws 
for  1906. 

Johnson,  Svenbjorn.  "  Good  Roads  —  An  outline  of  state  road  sys- 
tems." Bulletin  No.  2,  North  Dakota  Public  Library  Commission. 

"  Syllabus  of  Illustrated  Lecture  on  Roads  and  Road  Building,"  Office 
of  Public  Roads,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 

"The  Use  of  the  Split-Log  Drag  on  Earth  Roads,"  D.  Ward  King, 
U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  321. 

"  The  Construction  of  Macadam  Roads,"  Austin  B.  Fletcher,  Office  of 
Public  Roads,  Bulletin  No.  29. 

"  Good  Roads  for  Farmers,"  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  95. 

"Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,"  1910,  pp.  152-57. 

"  Sand  Clay  and  Burnt-Clay  Roads,"  W.  L.  Spoon,  Farmers'  Bulletin 
No.  311. 


CHAPTER  X 

SOCIAL    ASPECTS    OF   LAND    AND   LABOUR   IN    THE 
UNITED   STATES 

Certain  phases  of  land  and  labour  in  the  United  States 
are  of  special  social  significance.  The  amount  of  arable  land 
to  be  developed,  the  amount  of  farming  land  unimproved,  the 
tendency  in  the  size  of  farms,  the  tenure  of  land,  the  supply, 
wages,  and  social  conditions  of  farm  labour  are  some  of  the 
more  fundamental  items.  These  affect  the  welfare  of  in- 
dividuals living  in  the  country  and  that  of  the  nation  as  a 
whole.  The  nation's  population  is  ultimately  determined  by 
the  amount  of  its  arable  land. 

I.    AVAILABLE   AND   UNIMPROVED    A.TCFSA. 

Relative  to  the  amount  of  total  available  arable  land  in 
the  United  States  and  the  amount  which  is  unimproved  but 
is  in  the  shape  of  farms  the  following  facts  are  presented. 

Amount  of  Available  Arable  Land. —  This  has  been  a  great 
factor  in  the  development  of  the  United  States,  offering  an 
optimistic  outlook  for  every  ambitious  young  man  who  de- 
sired to  farm,  and  affecting  the  wages  alike  of  industrial  and 
agricultural  labour.  July  1,  1908,  there  were  226,690,938 
acres  of  surveyed  and  528,204,358  acres  of  unsurveyed  pub- 
lic lands  vacant  and  subject  to  entry  and  settlement,  a  total 
of  754,895,296  acres. 

An  inspection  of  tables  of  unappropriated  lands  show  that 
almost  one-half  of  this  domain  lies  in  Alaska  where  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  developed  soon.  Besides  this  the  semi-arid  states 
of  Arizona,  Idaho,  Nevada,  ISTew  Mexico,  Utah,  Wyoming, 

123 


124      CONSTRUCTIVE  KUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

and  Colorado  absorb  from  three-fifths  to  three-fourths  of  the 
remainder.1  Irrigation  will  make  much  of  this  vast  area 
usable  for  agricultural  purposes.  Through  the  work  of  the 
United  States  Eeclamation  Service  a  considerable  proportion 
of  the  western  desert  area,  extending  from  Arizona  and  lower 
California  northward  into  the  State  of  Washington,  has  been 
transformed,  and  the  lands,  formerly  worthless  as  a  national 
asset,  now  yield  crops  worth  each  year  $250,000,000.  Thir- 
teen million  acres  in  these  deserts  have  been  planted  to  grains, 
fruits,  and  other  crops.  Thirty  million  acres  of  land,  enough 
to  provide  homes  for  2,000,000  families,  are  yet  to  be  irri- 
gated in  the  West. 

Recent  government  statistics  indicate  that  a  conservative 
statement  of  the  amount  which  may  be  reclaimed  for  profit- 
able farming  by  the  drainage  of  swamp  lands  is  7 9,0 00,000 
acres.  An  analysis  of  representative  samples  of  swamp  land 
soils  made  last  year  (1911)  at  the  University  of  Ohio,  re- 
sulted in  the  report  that  such  soil  could  support  1,000  yields 
of  corn  at  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre  without  any  material  soil 
exhaustion  resulting. 

In  addition  to  what  irrigation  and  drainage  may  bring 
into  cultivation  better  methods  of  farming  under  dry  condi- 
tions will  recover  another  large  area.  What  is  known  as 
"  dry  farming "  succeeds  in  producing  crops  in  the  semi- 
arid  regions  in  all  seasons  save  those  of  absolute  drought. 

Unimproved  Farm  Area. —  Besides  the  foregoing  area 
there  is  a  large  acreage  in  farms  which,  is  tabulated  as  unim- 
proved. In  1900,  exclusive  of  Alaska  and  Hawaii,  there 
were  5,737,372  farms  in  the  United  States  with  an  average 
acreage  of  146.2.  These  farms  comprised  838,591,774 
acres,  of  which  414,498,487  acres,  or  49.4  per  cent,  were 
improved,  and  the  remainder,  or  50.6  per  cent,  were  unim- 
proved. The  percentages  in  1850  were  38.5  improved  and 
61.5  per  cent,  unimproved. 

i "  Public  Document,  No.  5452,"  p.  110. 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AND  LABOUR         125 


126      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

The  accompanying  diagram  indicates  the  changes  which 
have  been  made  in  the  relative  amounts  of  the  improved 
and  unimproved  land  in  farms,  and  of  the  area  not  in  farms 
during  the  half  century  ending  with  1900. 

LAND   AREAS    IK    IT.    S. 1850    AND    1900 

An  inspection  of  the  statistics  of  improved  and  unimproved 
farm  acreage  by  states  and  territories  shows  that  the  condi- 
tion of  improvement  is  general,  though  some  states  rate  lower 
than  others.  Thus  Massachusetts  showed  63.4  per  cent,  of 
improved  acreage  in  1880  to  41.1  in  1900;  Alabama,  33.8  to 
41.8;  Georgia,  31.5  to  40.2;  Kansas,  50.1  to  60.1;  Illinois, 
82.5  to  84.5;  New  York,  74.5  to  68.9;  Nevada,  64.9  to  22.3. 
In  the  eastern  states  the  decrease  is  due  to  abandonment  of 
farming,  while  in  the  western  it  is  owing  to  increasing  set- 
tlement. It  is  apparent  from  these  facts  that  a  usable  public 
domain  of  great  expanse  exists  and  that  the  farms  now  owned 
are  developed  or  used  to  only  about  half  of  their  acreage. 
If  the  total  arable  area  were  settled  and  put  into  use  and  the 
unimproved  farm  acreage  were  improved  the  United  States 
could  treble  or  quadruple  its  population  as  conditions  exist. 
If  intensive  farming  were  employed  it  could  probably  do  so 
again.  There  is  abundance  of  room  and  support  for  a  mul- 
tiplication of  our  agricultural  population. 

An  estimate  of  the  amount  of  population  the  United  States 
might  support  based  on  the  water  supply  has  been  made. 
The  arable  land  of  the  nation  is  classed  as  semi-arid,  sub- 
humid,  and  humid.  The  water  supply  of  the  United  States 
is  estimated  in  terms  of  acre  feet,  an  acre  foot  being  1  foot 
of  water  per  acre;  and  5  acre  feet  being  regarded  as  suffi- 
cient for  one  person  annually.  On  this  basis,  if  the  entire 
supply  of  water  were  used,  we  might  expect  a  population 
of  348,000,000  in  the  year  2000 ;  575,000,000  in  2100 ;  and 
1,017,000,000  in  2200.  Of  the  population  at  the  latter  date 
the  Western  States  would  have  200,000,000;  the  Median 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AND  LABOUR    127 

States,   200,000,000;    and   the   Eastward,   or   humid   states 
would  possess  600,000,000.2 

H.    TEiNDENCY   IN    SIZE    OF    FARMS 

Facts  Expressing  Tendency. —  Statistics  of  the  number 
and  acreage  of  farms  at  each  decennial  census  from  1850  to 
1900  show  that  there  was  a  decrease  in  the  size  of  farms 
from  202.6  acres  in  1850  to  133.7  acres  in  1880.  Since 
then  there  has  been  a  reverse  tendency,  the  average  acreage 
per  farm  being  146.2  in  1900.  In  this  year  there  were 
5,737,372  such  average  farms.  The  decrease  in  size  of  farms 
between  1880  and  1900  occurred  almost  exclusively  in  states 
outside  of  the  Western  Division.  Massachusetts  was  the  only 
New  England  state,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  were  the 
other  two  North  Atlantic  states  to  show  a  decrease.  The 
South  Atlantic  states  were  Alabama,  Delaware,  Florida, 
Georgia,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina. 
The  North  Central  were  Indiana,  Ohio,  Michigan,  and  Mis- 
souri. The  South  Central  were  Arkansas,  Tennessee,  Ken- 
tucky, West  Virginia,  Louisiana,  and  Mississippi.  The  one 
state  in  the  Western  Division  was  California. 

The  southern  states  showed  the  most  decided  decreases  in 
the  decade  ending  in  1900.  Alabama's  average  fell  from 
138.8  to  92.7;  Arkansas',  127.7  to  93.1;  Florida's,  140.7  to 
106.9;  Kentucky's,  129.1  to  93.7;  Louisiana's,  171.3  to  95.4; 
Mississippi's,  155.8  to  82.6  ;  North  Carolina's,  141.9  to  101.3 ; 
South  Carolina's,  143.4  to  90.0;  Tennessee's,  124.8  to  90.6; 
Virginia's,  167.4  to  118.6;  West  Virginia's,  162.6  to  114.7. 
Otherwise  the  decrease  was  slight. 

The  very  heavy  increases  in  the  average  acreage  among 
states  were:  Arizona,  176.8  to  333.2;  Colorado,  258.6  to 
383.6;  Kansas,  154.6  to  240.7;  Montana,  267.1  to  885.9; 
Nebraska,  156.9  to  246.1;  Nevada,  378.1  to  1174.7;  New 
Mexico,  124.9  to  416.8;  North  Dakota  (in  1890),  277.4  to 

2  "  How  One  Billion  of  Us  Can  be  Fed."  W.  J.  McGee,  World's  Work, 
February,  1912,  p.  443. 


.  128      CONSTKUCTIVE  RUKAL  SOCIOLOGY; 


342.9;  Oklahoma,  182.0  to  251.5;  South  Dakota  (in  1890), 
2Y7.2  to  362.4;  Texas,  208.4  to  357.2;  Utah,  69.4  to  212.4; 
Wyoming,  273.3  to  1333.0.  Iowa,  Minnesota,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Oregon,  and  Washington  made  decided  gains.3 

The  radical  tendencies  in  either  direction  are  due  to  local 
or  regional  conditions.  The  decrease  of  the  farm  acreage 
of  the  southern  states  arises  from  the  continued  process  of 
breaking  up  large  plantations,  formerly  operated  on  the  basis 
of  slavery,  into  smaller  proprietary  or  tenant  tracts.  The 
increase  of  the  western  region  comes  largely  from  the  crea- 
tion of  large  stock  ranches;  but  in  Minnesota,  the  Dakotas, 
Kansas,  and  Nebraska  it  is  also  partly  due  to  the  establish- 
ment of  large  grain  farms.  The  stock  ranches  are  breaking 
up  and  the  western  increase  from  that  direction  is  probably 
temporary.  Consolidation  of  farms  which  has  occurred  in 
Iowa  is  likely  to  continue  so  long  as  new  lands  may  be  pur- 
chased cheaply.  The  very  large  grain  ranches  of  the  Da- 
kotas show  signs  of  disintegration. 

TABLE  XVI  * 

NUMBER    OP    FARMS    OF    SPECIFIED    ACREAGE,    1880-1900 


o 

o 

§ 

to 

o 

o 

o 

o 

0 

o 

2   K 

Y«ar              „  S 

0>  M 

rH 
«& 

o 

T3  K 
g  0) 

to 

r4 

H3W 

0  h 

T3rH 
gfe 

S£ 

o  ° 

g<8 

3t) 

cS  ^3 

CO  ^ 

o'S 

0-0 

O73 

Pco 

coP 

SP 

<N& 

wp 

sp 

gp 

rH   CS 

1900    .  .  .    41,385 

225,844 

406,641 

1,257,496 

1,366,038 

2,290,282 

102,526 

47,160 

1890 

265  550 

902  777 

1  121  485 

2  008  694 

84  395 

31  546 

1880    ...      4,352 

134,889 

254,749 

781,574 

1,032,810 

1,695,983 

75,972 

28,578 

Per 

Per 

Per 

Per 

Per 

Per 

Per 

Per 

Year            cent. 

cent. 

cent. 

cent. 

cent. 

cent. 

cent. 

cent. 

1900   .          0.7 

4.0 

7.1 

21.9 

23.8 

39.9 

1.8 

0.8 

1890    

, 

5.8 

19.8 

24.6 

44.0 

1  8 

0.7 

1880    ...      0.1 

3.4 

6.3 

19.5 

25.3 

42.3 

1.9 

0.7 

3  Table  No.  LX,  U.  S.  Statistical  Abstract,  1908. 
*  Table  102,  Abstract  12th  Census. 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AOT)  LABOUR         129 

The  table  on  page  127  presents  the  facts  relative  to  the 
number  of  farms  of  specific  sizes  in  the  United  States  from 
1880  to  1900. 

Capitalistic  Ownership. —  Probably  the  only  considerable 
menace  to  small  ownership  lies  in  the  direction  of  capitalistic 
investments  in  large  tracts  of  land  which  have  been  made 
mostly  in  the  West,  Southwest,  and  Southeast.  Some  very 
large  holdings  exist.  Fragmentary  statements  of  the  approx- 
imate character  are  given  for  what  they  are  worth.  It  is 
said  that  Henry  Miller  of  California  owns  4,500,000  acres; 
E.  J.  Marshall  of  Los  Angeles  owns  4,000,000  acres  in  the 
Southwest;  Mrs.  King,  1,000,000  acres  in  T^xas;  Hetty 
Green,  over  1,000,000  acres ;  100  men  own  17,000,000  acres 
in  the  Sacramento  Valley ;  40  foreigners  —  mostly  English 
and  German  —  own  22,910,740  acres;  Frederick  Weyer- 
hauser  controls  30,000,000  acres.  Some  of  these  possessions 
are  larger  than  some  of  the  states.  The  Weyerhauser  control 
embraces  an  area  equal  to  that  of  one-half  of  New  England 
or  that  of  South  Carolina.  Or  the  property  of  Mr.  Miller  is 
about  the  size  of  West  Virginia.  It  is  probable  that,  should 
all  the  large  holdings,  which  are  actually  owned  by  single  in- 
dividuals, get  reported  correctly,  they  would  increase  the  aver- 
age size  of  farms  in  the  United  States.  According  to  the 
table  on  size  of  farms,  only  eight-tenths  of  one  per  cent,  of 
the  farms  embraced  1,000  acres  or  more.  Forest  land  and 
mineral  claims  are  probably  not  included  under  the  heading 
of  farms. 

The  importance  of  land  ownership  and  size  of  farms  is 
seen  in  conditions  in  England  and  Spain,  where  extensive 
estates  are  withheld  from  useful  production  to  the  great  in- 
jury of  the  people;  in  the  recent  action  of  English  landlords 
who  transformed  into  game  premises  large  areas  of  land  in 
agricultural  use;  in  the  comparison  of  the  condition  of  the 
average  agricultural  labourer  in  England  and  in  France,  the 
former  being  a  mere  wage  worker  with  no  secure  home  or 


130      CONSTKUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

footing,  the  latter,  with  his  little  family  group  being  owner 
of  the  land  he  farms. 

III.    TENANT    FARMING 

Farm  Operation. —  That  there  is  a  tendency  somewhat  pro- 
nounced toward  the  operation  of  farms  by  tenants  rather 
than  by  the  owners  is  evident  by  an  inspection  of  Table  XVIL 

TABLE  XVII  s 

LAND  TENITEE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  BY  DIVISIONS 

Division  Per  cent,  of  Farms  Operated  by 

Owners  Cash  Tenants  Share  Tenants 

1900      1880  1900       1880     1900      1880 

Continental   United    States..   64.7       74.5  13.1         8.0      22.2       17.5 

North    Atlantic   Division, 79.2       84.0         9.8         7.0       11.0         9.0 

South   Atlantic   Division 55.8       63.9  17.9       11.6       26.3       24.5 

North   Central  Division 72.1       79.5         9.5         5.2       18.4       15.3 

South   Central   Division 51.4       63.8  17.3       11.8       31.1       24.4 

Western  Division 83.4      86.0         7.7         5.5         8.9         8.5 

The  owners  ceased  operation  to  the  extent  of  almost  10  per 
cent.,  in  the  twenty  years  between  1880  and  1900,  and  ten- 
antry was  substituted.  These  results  appear  to  ensue  chiefly 
from  three  causes.  First,  the  investment  in  farm  lands  by 
city  residents  —  generally  in  proximity  to  their  municipality, 
and  second,  from  the  retirement  of  well-to-do  farmers  into 
the  neighbouring  city  or  village.  Third,  a  larger  period  is 
required  to  save  money  with  which  toVbuy  a  farm  than  was 
previously  the  case.  As  a  consequence,  each  successive  gen- 
eration of  farmers  must  remain  longer  in  the  tenant  class. 
The  next  table  shows  this  (Table  XVIII). 

From  generation  to  generation  a  smaller  percentage  are 
able  to  make  the  ^transition  to  farm  ownership.  "  Of  the 
occupiers  of  farm  homes  who  were  less  than  25  years  of  age, 
a  smaller  percentage  were  owners  in  1900  than  in  1890. 
This  is  true  for  every  age  period  given  in  the  table  except 

s  Abstract  of  12th  Census,  Table  149. 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AOT)  LABOUR         131 

TABLE  XVIII 

PERCENTAGE  OF  PERSONS  OWNING   AND   HIEING  FARM   HOMES 

1890  1900 

Age                     Owned  Hired  Owned  Hired 

Under  25  years 32.6  67.4  27.7  72.2 

25  to  34  years 49.8  50.2  45.3  54.7 

35  to  44  years. 64.0  36.0  64.4  35.6 

45  to  54  years 72.3  27.7  70.7  29.3 

55  years  and  over 82.2  17.8  81.4  18.6 

one  —  the  reverse  being  true  for  the  period  from  35  to  44. 
This  suggests  that  the  decline  in  landownership  is  due  to  the 
inability,  or  disinclination,  of  the  succeeding  generation  to 
acquire  land  ownership  so  generally  as  their  predecessors." 
The  various  forces  and  conditions  governing  the  attainment 
of  land  and  also  those  which  retard  investments  in  land  are 
at  the  base  of  the  decline.6 

The  tendencies  in  the  United  States  are  not  decisively 
toward  extended  consolidation  and  enlarged  holdings.  In 
the  regions  where  the  enlargement  is  most  noteworthy  as  has 
been  seen,  it  is  apparently  due  to  the  operation  of  causes 
other  than  the  advantage  in  production  which  arises  from 
large  holdings.  Quick  and  large  rises  in  land  values,  as  in 
Iowa  and  Illinois,  have  induced  multitudes  of  owners  to  sell 
out  and  go  to  newer  regions  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
where  several  times  the  amount  they  owned  can  be  pur- 
chased for  what  they  received.  In  the  southeastern  states  it 
is  the  outcome  of  the  dependency  of  agriculture  on  an  igno- 
rant, coloured,  labour  population. 

Further,  it  is  likely  that  when  the  possibility  of  procuring 
cheap  land  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  has  passed  farm- 
ers in  the  improved  agricultural  regions  will  cease  to  sell 
to  neighbouring  farmers.  When  this  point  is  reached,  and 
when,  also,  estates  begin  to  be  divided  among  the  descend- 
ants of  present  farmers,  we  may  expect  to  see  the  cessation 

e  "  Landownership  and  Tenancy,"  H.  C.  Taylor,  "  Cycl.  Amer.  Agricul- 
ture," 4:  174  if. 


132       CONSTEUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

of  the  consolidation  tendency  and  the  development  of  small 
and  intensive  farming. 

Farms  are  almost  always  leased  in  Great  Britain.  In 
France  77.6  per  cent.,  and  in  Germany  83.6  per  cent,  of  the 
farmers  own  all  or  a  part  of  their  farms,  while  in  the  United 
States  35.3  per  cent,  are  tenants. 

Significance  of  Land  Ownership  and  Tenant  Fanning. — 
There  are  two  opposing  views  as  to  the  effects  of  tenant  farm- 
ing and  small  proprietorship. 

1.  Young  and  Mill  held  that  small  proprietors  form  the 
basis  of  individual  prosperity,  independence,  and  well  being. 
Young,  who  travelled  through  Europe  in  1787-8,  and  who 
believed  in  large  agriculture,  testified  that  while  there  was 
much  poor  farming  on  small  properties,  "  yet  the  industry 
of  the  possessors  was  so  conspicuous  and  meritorious  that  no 
commendation  would  be  too  great  for  it.  It  was  sufficient 
to  prove  that  property  in  land  is,  of  all  others,  the  most 
active  instigator  to  severe  and  incessant  labour."  He  thinks 
the  way  to  get  mountains  farmed  to  the  very  top  is  to  let 
them  out  as  property  to  small  owners.7 

Mill  reviewed  the  facts  and  literature  of  the  continental 
method  of  small  holdings  as  opposed  to  the  English  prac- 
tice of  large  estates  in  his  attempt  to  get  England  to  see  the 
mistake  and  loss  incident  to  its  practice.  He  believed  the 
evidence  proved  that  peasant  properties  conduced  to  the  moral 
and  social  welfare  of  the  labouring  class  by  increasing  their 
industry  to  what  a  Swiss  statistical  writer  described  as  "  al- 
most superhuman  industry " ;  that  territorial  arrangement 
is  "  an  instrument  of  popular  education."  "  The  mental 
faculties  will  be  most  developed  where  they  are  most  exer- 
cised ;  and  what  gives  more  exercise  to  them  than  the  having 
multitudes  of  interests,  none  of  which  can  be  neglected,  and 
which  can  be  provided  for  only  by  varied  efforts  of  will  and 
intelligence  ? " 

7  Quoted  by  Mill,  "  Principles  Political  Econ.,"  Bk.  II,  Chaps.  6  and  7. 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AOT>  LABOUE         133 

Small  proprietorship  is  "  propitious  to  the  moral  virtues 
of  prudence,  temperance,  and  self-control."  Labourers  are 
liable  to  spend  their  entire  wage.  "  The  tendency  of  peasant 
proprietors,  and  of  those  who  hope  to  become  proprietors, 
is  to  the  contrary  extreme ;  to  take  even  too  much  '  thought 
for  the  morrow  ? ;  to  be  penurious.  Even  among  the  pleas- 
ure-loving French  people  of  the  agricultural  sort  "  the  spirit 
of  thrift  is  diffused  through  the  rural  population  in  a  man- 
ner most  gratifying  as  a  whole,  and  which  in  individual 
instances  errs  rather  on  the  side  of  excess  than  defect." 

Mr.  Mill  further  holds  that  small  holdings  would  not  in- 
terfere with  the  desirable  and  much  needed  purpose  on  the 
part  of  the  workers  to  exercise  prudence  and  restraint  in  the 
increase  of  population.  Some  writer  had  held  that  peasant 
proprietors  would  be  likely  to  multiply  up  to  the  limits  of 
food  production  and  thus  force  a  minute  subdivision  of  the 
land.  Mr.  Mill  believes  that  without  education  and  habitua- 
tion  into  the  exercise  of  prudence  the  land  proprietors,  like 
other  workers,  would  increase  in  number  up  to  the  food  lim- 
its. But  that  if  indoctrinated  —  like  their  urban  brothers  — 
they  would  exercise  due  restraint.  Furthermore  he  marshals 
facts  from  Switzerland,  Norway,  Prussia,  and  other  con- 
tinental countries  to  demonstrate  that  peasant  proprietorship 
not  only  did  not  evoke  over-population  but  rather  checked  it. 
But  even  the  division  of  landed  property  does  not  necessitate 
a  division  of  farms,  for  the  Flemish  peasantry  have  the  habit 
of  not  dividing  property. 

Concluding  his  chapters  on  peasant  proprietors  he  says : 

"  As  a  result  of  this  inquiry  into  the  direct  operation  and 
indirect  influences  of  peasant  properties,  I  conceive  it  to  be 
established  that  there  is  no  necessary  connection  between  this 
form  of  landed  property  and  an  imperfect  state  of  the  arts 
of  production ;  that  it  is  favourable  in  quite  as  many  respects 
as  it  is  unfavourable,  to  the  most  effective  use  of  the  powers 
of  the  soil;  that  no  other  existing  state  of  agricultural  econ- 


CONSTRUCTIVE  RUKAL  SOCIOLOGY; 

omy  has  so  beneficial  an  effect  on  the  industry,  the  intelli- 
gence, the  frugality,  and  prudence  of  the  population,  nor 
tends  on  the  whole  so  much  to  discourage  an  improvident 
increase  of  their  numbers ;  and  that  no  existing  state,  there- 
fore, is  on  the  whole  so  favourable,  both  to  their  rural  and 
their  physical  welfare.  Compared  with  the  English  system 
of  cultivation  by  hired  labour,  it  must  be  regarded  as 
eminently  beneficial  to  the  labouring  class.  French  history 
strikingly  confirms  these  conclusions.  Three  times  during 
the  course  of  ages  the  peasantry  have  been  purchasers  of  land ; 
and  these  times  immediately  preceded  the  three  principal  eras 
of  French  agricultural  prosperity."  8 

2.  The  other  view  is  that  effective  farming  in  the  future 
can  only  be  done  by  a  system  of  large  properties  and  tenant 
renters  whose  rights  are  protected  by  legal  provision.  It  is 
held  that  the  capital  which  needs  to  be  invested  in  machinery 
and  equipment  in  order  to  make  farming  competitively  profit- 
able and  possible  cannot  be  provided  by  small  owners.  They 
will  be  forced  to  sell  to  capitalistic  owners  who  can  make  the 
large  investments  needed.  Moreover,  the  fall  in  prices  places 
a  shock  on  the  landlords  and  farmers  which  is  not  felt  by 
other  callings  in  the  same  manner.  Small  proprietors  have 
nothing  to  shield  them  from  the  shock  and  must  give  way 
to  men  of  larger  resources. 

It  would  seem  that  recent  events  and  the  spirit  of  present 
times  is  in  favour  of  the  position  held  by  Mill.  The  progress 
that  is  being  made  in  agricultural  development  in  Europe 
and  Great  Britain  is  most  conspicuous  just  where  the  larger 
estates  are  being  broken  up,  parcelled  out,  and  vested  in 
numerous  small  proprietors.  This  is  notably  the  case  in 
Ireland  and  in  Denmark  and  in  both  countries  farming  and 
dairying  have  made  prodigious  progress,  and  in  both  the  con- 
sequences have  been  of  the  best  for  the  character  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  citizenship.  ISTew  interest  in  life,  renewed 

s  "Principles  of  Political  Economy,"  J.  S.  Mill,  Bk.  II,  Chaps.  6  and  7. 


ASPECTS  OF  LAKD  AOT>  LABOUH        135' 

industry,  progressive  and  cooperative  undertakings,  enriched 
social  and  moral  life,  have  been  the  results. 

Improving'  the  Tenant  System. —  How  to  make  a  good  ten- 
ant system  is  an  important  consideration.  Experience  indi- 
cates that  it  cannot  be  done  by  law.  At  least  two  things  are 
thought  to  be  necessary.  First,  the  existence  of  a  high  sense 
of  justice  on  the  part  of  both  landlords  and  tenants  as  the 
basis  of  a  recognition  of  mutual  rights.  Second,  the  develop- 
ment of  agriculture  to  a  point  where  it  is  possible  to  ascer- 
tain what  is  right  and  fair.  "  For  example,  both  landlord 
and  tenant  may  be  fair-minded,  and  yet  without  a  knowledge 
of  the  rapidity  with  which  a  given  fertiliser  is  made  use  of 
by  a  given  system  of  cropping  on  the  various  kinds  of  soils, 
it  is  impossible  to  come  to  an  accurate  conclusion  as  to  the 
proper  compensation  to  be  paid  to  the  retiring  tenant  for 
unexhausted  fertilisers."  The  British  system  during  a  cen- 
tury of  experience  has  marked  out  a  plan  of  adjustment  more 
complete  than  elsewhere.9 

Of  much  importance  to  rural  sociology  is  the  effect  on 
rural  social  life  of  absentee  landlordism  and  of  tenant  farm- 
ing. 

The  economic  effects  of  absentee  landlordism  with  its  at- 
tendant abuses  has  had  historic  examples.  Perhaps  the  most 
notable  recent  one  has  been  that  of  Ireland.  The  profits  of  the 
large  estates  Were  spent  abroad,  draining  Ireland  of  its  pro- 
ductive capital ;  the  best  land  of  large  estates  was  turned  into 
pasture  land ;  and  when  tenants  made  improvements  on  farms 
to  enlarge  the  production  the  rents  were  systematically  raised 
to  absorb  the  reward  of  initiative  and  industry.  Conse- 
quently a  premium  was  placed  on  neglect,  shiftlessness, 
drunkenness,  and  social  squalor,  and  agricultural  Ireland 
was  emigrant  as  to  its  best  and  most  vigorous  element, 
decadent  economically  and  socially,  and  rapidly  increasing 
in  pauperism  and  insanity. 

»H.  C.  Taylor,  "Cycl.  Agr.,"  174-84. 


136       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

The  various  Land  Purchase  Acts  passed  by  Parliament 
revolutionised  Irish  society,  for  it  was  mostly  agricultural 
and  rural.  Small  estates  could  be  purchased  on  one  hun- 
dred year  payments.  Buildings  and  sanitation  were  fostered. 
Agriculture  and  education  were  promoted.  Cooperative  un- 
dertakings took  root.  As  a  consequence  the  inhabitants  are 
becoming  thrifty,  industrious,  interested  in  their  own  com- 
munity affairs,  temperate,  and  a  larger  life  is  full  of  promise. 

In  America  social  degeneration  due  to  tenancy  has  been 
noted.  Absentee  landlordism  visits  on  the  given  region 
heavy  economic  injuries.  The  tenant  who  keeps  up  the 
buildings,  grounds,  fences,  and  fertility  of  a  farm  as  he 
would  were  he  owner  is  rare  indeed/  No  doubt  juster  laws 
and  more  progress  in  scientific  agriculture  would  form  a 
basis  for  the  correction  of  some  of  these  matters.  Now  the 
tenant  sees  no  profit  in  the  upkeep  of  the  farm.  He  believes 
he  obtains  the  greatest  advantage  in  getting  the  largest  re- 
turns with  the  least  effort.  Could  just  returns  for  his  ef- 
forts be  secured  the  results  would  be  better. 

But  the  economic  phase  is  less  important  than  the  social. 
The  community  interests  are  at  stake,  and  are  put  in  jeopardy 
wherever  a  neighbourhood  is  given  up  to  renters  dominantly. 

This  fact  has  been  observed  frequently.  Strong  spoke  of 
it  in  his  "  New  Era  "  many  years  ago.  It  has  received  pass- 
ing attention  now  and  then  since  that  time.  Near  Syracuse, 
New  York  (1894),  life  in  certain  tenant  communities  seemed 
pathetic.  Church,  school,  and  home  indicated  systematic 
neglect.  In  North  Central  Kansas  (1895)  renters  exercised 
neither  interest  nor  influence  in  community  matters.  Ob- 
servations in  Montgomery  County,  Illinois  (1901—1903), 
resulted  in  the  belief  that  schools  and  churches  were  declining 
under  tenant  conditions.  Resident  owners  recognised  and 
deplored  the  fact.  Observers  in  North  Dakota  report  sim- 
ilar conditions  wherever  renting  predominates. 

As  an  accompaniment  of  the  neglect  of  church  and  school 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AOT)  LAEOUR    137 

the  moral  and  cultural  tone  of  the  neighbourhood  sink  low. 
Cooperative  ethical  activities  of  country  districts  usually 
reside  with  the  church.  The  larger  cultural  and  social  out- 
look associate  themselves  with  church  and  school  and  are 
products  of  their  life.  Immorality,  vulgarity,  low  ethical 
ideals,  insufficiency  of  informational  and  esthetic  agencies 
and  outlets  result  from  irresponsibility  and  transiency. 

IV.    FARM    LABO'UB 

Closely  connected  with  the  subject  of  tenancy  is  that  of 
farm  labour.  The  topics  are  commonly  treated  together  but 
for  our  purposes  it  will  be  better  to  assign  each  a  separate 
consideration. 

Labour  Supply. —  Deficiency  in  the  supply  of  farm  labour 
appears  frequently  enough  to  indicate  seriousness.  Various 
reasons  are  assigned  for  the  dearth. 

First,  it  is  assumed  to  be  inherent  in  a  democracy.  Says 
the  Country  Life  Commission: 

"  So  long  as  the  United  States  continues  to  be  a  true  de- 
mocracy it  will  have  a  serious  labour  problem.  As  a  democ- 
racy, we  honour  labour,  and  the  higher  the  efficiency  of  the 
labour  the  greater  the  honour.  The  labourer,  if  he  has  the  am- 
bition to  be  an  efficient  agent  in  the  development  of  the 
country,  will  be  anxious  to  advance  from  the  lower  to  the 
higher  forms  of  effort,  and  from  being  a  labourer  himself  he 
becomes  a  director  of  labour.  If  he  has  nothing  but  his 
hands  and  brains,  he  aims  to  accumulate  sufficient  capital  to 
become  a  tenant,  and  eventually  to  become  owner,  of  a  farm 
home.  A  large  number  of  our  immigrants  share  with  the 
native-born  citizen  this  laudable  ambition.  Therefore,  there 
is  a  constant  decrease  of  efficient  farm  labour  by  these  up- 
ward movements."  10 

Second,  the  seasonal  demand  for  labour  produces  a  de- 
ficiency in  the  supply  at  the  time  it  is  most  needed.  This 

10  Report  of  the  Country  Life  Commission,  p.  39. 


138       CONSTKUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

is  not  confined  to  one  section  of  the  country,  but  is  quite 
general.  It  is  common  in  New  York  in  the  fall  to  find  camps 
of  men,  women,  and  children  along  the  roadsides  who  have 
come  out  of  the  cities  for  a  few  weeks  to  engage  in  hop- 
picking.  In  Central  Arkansas  one  observes  that  the  people 
from  the  mountain  regions,  where  conditions  are  backward, 
travel  in  covered  wagons  to  the  lowlands  in  the  cotton  pick- 
ing season  to  live  and  work  till  the  white  staple  has  been 
gathered.  The  grain  fields  of  the  west  central  states  and 
of  neighbouring  Canadian  states  make  their  yearly  appeal 
through  the  press  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of  harvest  hands. 
A  standing  advertisement  in  the  Grand  Forks  (North  Da- 
kota daily)  Herald,  for  weeks  preceding  the  harvest  of  1911 
called  for  50,000  men  to  care  for  the  grain  in  the  North- 
west. Men  from  the  cities,  and  from  the  forests  of  Minne- 
sota make  yearly  pilgrimages  to  meet  the  demand.  The 
advertisements  are  likely  to  run  ahead  of  the  needs.  Winni- 
peg papers  reported  that  12,000  men  were  stranded  in  that 
city  ten  days  prior  to  harvesting.  The  fruit  regions  of  the 
Pacific  Coast  find  difficulty  and  expense  in  obtaining  their 
pickers  at  the  proper  time. 

Third,  in  domestic  circles,  also,  there  exists  the  problem 
of  "  help."  The  larger  the  farm  the  more  serious  the  prob- 
lem. The  presence  of  children  in  school  deprives  the  mother 
of  home  help.  Social  attractions  in  cities,  the  regular  hours 
of  labour  to  be  found  there  and  the  supposed  "  higher  re- 
spectability "  of  city  labour,  are  conditions  which  lessen  the 
supply  of  workers  in  the  country. 

Fourth,  a  permanent  labour  supply  is  made  impossible  by 
the  absence  of  provision  for  home  and  family  life  on  the 
farm.  Married  men  with  families  find  little  encouragement 
for  settling  down  as  hired  help. 

Providing  a  Labour  Supply. —  Attempts  are  made  from 
time  to  time  to  obtain  a  more  permanent  labour  supply. 
Farmers  gravely  and  copiously  discuss  the  problem  but  fail 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AND  LABOUR         139 

to  see  that  the  solution  lies  in  establishing  proper  and  per- 
manent living  conditions.  The  southern  states  are  making 
a  more  or  less  concerted  attempt  to  induce  immigrants  from 
abroad  to  settle  and  work  in  the  South. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  and  serious  effort  to  obtain 
permanent  workers  is  that  of  the  sugar  beet  industry.  The 
securing,  retention  through  the  season,  and  making  the  la- 
bour supply  permanent  constitute  a  great  problem  in  that 
industry.  The  following  methods  have  been  or  are  being 
worked  out. 

1.  In  the  middle,  eastern,  and  some  western  states  most 
of  the  work  has  to  be  done  during  the  summer.     Pupils 
and  teachers  of  schools  are   available   then   and   are  used 
annually  in  thinning,   weeding,   and  hoeing  beets.     These 
workers  are  generally  satisfactory  and  improve  from  season 
to  season. 

2.  Near  large  cities  the  unemployed  element  go  out  to 
farms  during  the  day,  Polish  women  walking  out  and  back 
daily.     Although  this  is  a  satisfactory  class  of  labour,  be- 
cause of  its  industry,  and,  often,  its  previous  experience  with 
beets  in  Europe,  it  is  limited  to  city  regions  and  has  to  com- 
pete with  city  industries. 

3.  An  attempt  is  made  to  induce  families  to  become  per- 
manent residents  of  rural   districts.     Several  methods   are 
used. 

First,  in  one  section  farmers  are  building  at  least  one  ten- 
ant house. 

Second,  immigrants  do  not  like  to  be  isolated  from  their 
countrymen.  Several  sugar  companies  are  making  induce- 
ments to  get  settlers  by  selling  small  tracts  of  land,  part  of 
which  must  be  put  in  beets,  on  easy  terms.  Another  com- 
pany forms  small  farms,  builds  comfortable  homes,  fur- 
nishes tools,  etc.,  and  rents  them  to  farmers  who  will  raise 
small  areas  of  beets.  Yet  another  company  divides  its  land 
into  acre  tracts  to  rent  to  Russians  exclusively.  The  family 


140      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

is  to  have  the  land  deeded  to  it  after  a  given  number  of 
years. 

Third,  another  plan  consists  of  a  portable  house  furnished 
for  living  accommodations  of  several  men.  The  labourers 
contract  to  do  the  hand  work  for  several  beet  growers  at 
from  $18  to  $21  per  acre,  depending  on  the  number  of  hoe- 
ings  and  other  details  included  in  the  contract. 

Still  another  method  is  the  use  of  large  groups  of  Japanese 
who  live  in  camps  and  scatter  in  squads  for  the  work.  If 
they  operate  under  a  competent  foreman  they  are  capable 
of  doing  excellent  work,  but  may  become  careless  and  trifling 
in  spite  of  everything.11 

In  the  Northwest  it  is  planned  to  divide  farms  into  160- 
acre  tracts  and  import  permanent  labourers.  A  small  house 
will  be  constructed  and  a  few  acres  set  aside  for  the  free  and 
exclusive  use  of  the  labourer.  He  will  work  during  the  sum- 
mer for  the  farmer  and  during  the  winter  if  work  can  be 
had. 

Effects  of  Labour  Conditions. —  The  effects  of  rural  labour 
conditions  are  unwholesome  and  serious.  They  pertain  to 
those  who  labour  and  to  the  employing  communities. 

First,  certain  results  ensue  from  seasonal  and  transitory 
conditions.  Economically,  the  present  status  is  unsatisfac- 
tory and  wasteful.  The  quality  of  labour  is  low  and  un- 
trained, the  amount  is  often  insufficient,  it  is  difficult  to 
obtain  at  the  right  time,  is  hard  to  retain,  and  the  wages  paid 
are  frequently  excessively  high.  Eurther,  there  is  a  poten- 
tial menace  which  might  become  real.  If  it  should  happen 
that  the  cities  were  to  absorb  all  the  idle  labour  supply,  the 
farmers  would  suffer  an  enormous  loss;  or  they  would  offer 
such  wages  that  the  workers  would  be  driven  to  the  country, 
visiting  a  consequent  damage  to  municipal  industries. 

Socially  and  morally  community  life  suffers  from  the  an- 
nual invasion  of  a  great  transient,  irresponsible,  and  fre- 

11 "  Year  Book,"  Dept.  of  Agr.,  1906,  pp.  269-74. 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AOT)  LABOUR    141 

quently  semi-criminal  body  of  workers.  The  floating  class 
from  the  cities  is  not  a  desirable  element  to  set  free  in  a 
neighbourhood.  Gamblers,  cut-throats,  and  thieves  accom- 
pany the  pilgrimage  to  prey  upon  the  labourers  and  the  com- 
munities. The  sheriff  of  Polk  County,  Minnesota,  states 
that  the  jail  of  that  county,  with  a  capacity  of  thirty  or 
forty  inmates,  is  filled  each  fall  with  characters  of  the  latter 
class.  At  other  times  of  the  year  it  has  but  two  or  three 
inmates.  This  is  typical  of  the  region.  The  effect  on  the 
labourers  is  detrimental.  Transient  and  away  from  the 
steadying  influences  of  home  surroundings,  they  are  made 
irresponsible.  Socially  they  have  no  privileges  or  life. 
They  often  sleep  in  barns  or  out  of  doors  in  stacks,  eat  in 
hordes,  and  are  regarded  by  the  community  as  social  pariahs, 
and  as  mere  puppets  incidental  to  farming.  This  tends  to 
perpetuate  a  hobo  class,  and  to  create  hoboes  afresh.  It 
puts  a  premium  on  ignorant  labour.  The  influence  on  the 
larger  national  life  and  character  must  be  apparent. 

Second,  there  is  a  condition  of  country  life  and  labour 
which  arises  from  intemperance.  This  excerpt  from  the 
"  Report  of  the  Country  Life  Commission  "  expresses  it : 

"  The  liquor  question  has  been  emphasised  to  the  Commis- 
sion in  all  parts  of  the  country  as  complicating  the  labour 
question.  It  seems  to  be  regarded  as  a  burning  country 
life  problem.  .  .  .  The  saloon  is  an  institution  that  must 
be  banished  from  at  least  all  country  districts  and  rural  towns 
if  our  agricultural  interests  are  to  develop  to  the  extent  to 
which  they  are  capable." 

The  evils  are  stated  to  be  especially  hard  in  the  South. 
Prohibition,  where  it  has  been  adopted,  has  frequently  in- 
creased rather  than  lessened  them  because  of  inability  or 
failure  to  prevent  the  shipment  of  liquor  into  the  community 
from  outside. 

Third,  there  are  some  reactions  to  the  labour  situation  which 
are  taking  place  in  agriculture.  One  consists  in  changes  in 


142      CONSTRUCTIVE  RUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

farm  management  by  means  of  which  farming  is  slowly 
adapting  itself  to  the  situation.  This  is  partly  in  the  "  na- 
ture of  more  intensive  and  business  like  methods  whereby 
the  farmer  becomes  able  to  secure  a  better  class  of  labour 
and  to  employ  it  more  continuously."  More  frequently  it  is 
"  in  the  nature  of  a  simplification  of  the  business  and  a  less 
full  and  active  farm  life."  In  the  Northwest  there  exists  a 
tendency  toward  "  a  primitive  nature  farming,  with  the 
maximum  of  grazing  and  meadow  and  the  minimum  of  hand 
labour."  Another  reaction  is  toward  abandoning  the  more 
difficult  lands  and  extending  machinery  farming. 

Remedial  Suggestions. —  There  are  many  remedial  sugges- 
tions relative  to  agricultural  labour  conditions.  We  have 
previously  noted  methods  of  securing  a  labour  supply.  The 
subcommittee  on  "  unemployed  and  lack  of  farm  labour " 
of  the  New  York  Commission  on  accident  and  prevention 
says  that  notwithstanding  the  severity  and  undesirability  of 
farm  work  "  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  some  men  would 
undertake  this  employment  if  a  system  of  labour  bureaus 
were  available  through  which  they  could  hear  of  the  work." 
The  Commission  recommends  "  a  third  deputy  commission 
to  have  charge  of  the  bureau  of  public  employment  offices; 
such  offices  to  be  established  in  the  eight  largest  cities,  to- 
gether with  branches  wherever  they  may  be  deemed  neces- 
sary." This  provision  is  to  supply  demands  for  work  in  the 
various  fields,  to  cooperate  with  schools,  to  secure  employ- 
ment suited  to  the  child's  abilities,  and  thus  to  serve  as  a 
vocation  bureau.12 

Second,  a  substitute  for  a  labour  supply  is  offered  in  the 
suggestion  that  the  establishment  of  smaller  farms  will  en- 
able the  farmer  to  do  his  own  work.  Third,  scientific  agri- 
culture promises  to  have  beneficial  effects.  A  higher  order 
of  intelligence  on  the  part  of  farm  labour  will  be  needed  in 
future  to  secure  the  necessary  productivity.  "  If  rural 

12  Survey,  May  13,  1911,  p.  265. 


ASPECTS  OF  LAND  AND  LABOUK         143 

schools  can  be  organised  in  such  a  way  as  to  impart  the 
added  knowledge  of  scientific  agriculture  to  the  average  boy 
and  girl  on  the  farm,  the  next  half-century  will  see  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  movement  recorded  in  the  last  half.  Farm 
labour  will  become  more  and  more  independent  and  self- 
directed,  and  the  only  large  amount  of  agricultural  labour 
other  than  that  of  the  farm  owner  or  tenant  will  be  that  of 
his  children  who  are  being  trained  in  the  art  of  science  and 
agriculture." 

If  not,  so  that  the  average  farm  labourer  is  not  able  to 
apply  the  arts  of  agriculture  successfully  "  the  country  will 
see  a  return  to  the  customs  and  organisations  of  an  early 
date;  a  few  men  in  charge  of  large  farms  and  possessing  a 
mastery  of  the  science  and  art  of  agriculture  will  direct  the 
labour  of  an  army  of  wage  employes  of  a  lower  grade  of 
intelligence  and  skill."  13 

Fourth,  the  establishment  of  such  conditions  that  labour 
will  be  rendered  permanent  is  most  desirable  and  offers  the 
remedy  which  will  be  best  for  the  worker  and  for  the  com- 
munity and  nation.  The  agricultural  worker  needs  to  be 
bound  to  the  soil  but  not  as  a  serf.  Labourers  have  their 
rights  in  the  community  as  a  community  quite  as  much  as 
the  farmers.  Our  recognition  now  is  based  on  property 
ownership  rather  than  on  social  membership, 

(a)  The  workers  must  be  given  facilities  for  establishing 
homes.     Family  and  neighbourhood  privileges  are  essentials 
to  contentment  and  a  responsible  life. 

(b)  They  must  be  given  better  quarters  and  must  be  pro- 
tected from  discouragement  and  the  saloon.     "  The  shortage 
of  labour  seems  to  be  least  marked  where  the  labourer  is  best 
cared  for."     "  The  best  farmers  usually  complain  least  about 
the  labour  difficulty." 

(c)  A  shortening  of  hours  of  work  is  needful  to  equalise 

is "  Agricultural  Labour,"  by  L.  G.  Powers,  "  Cycl.  Amer.  Agr.," 
IV:  198. 


144      CONSTRUCTIVE  RUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

rural  and  urban  length  of  the  labour  day.  This  should  be 
accomplished  to  make  life  attractive.  It  can  be  done  with 
the  adoption  of  scientific  methods,  the  vocational  education 
of  children,  the  establishment  of  machinery  to  do  the  drudg- 
ery, and  the  inculcation  of  a  larger  view  of  labour  by  the 
farmers.  "  Already  in  certain  regions  of  well-systematised 
diversified  farming  the  average  hours  of  labour  are  less  than 
ten." 

(d)  The  labourer  should  be  given  assistance  to  contribute 
his  part  to  community  life.     A  generation  of  workers  edu- 
cated into  such  participation  would  perpetuate  its  kind. 

(e)  There  needs  to  be  established  certain  helpful  institu- 
tions.    One  is  a  simple  saving  institution.     In  cities  and  in- 
dustrial communities  it  has  proven  a  successful  agency  in 
the  development  of  thrift.     Another  would  consist  of  life 
insurance  adapted  to  the  needs  of  farm  labourers.     Coopera- 
tive buying  and  selling  associations  would  assist  to  cultivate 
thrift,  business  management,  the  power  of  cooperative  effort, 
and  a  steadying  sense  of  responsibility  and  dignity. 

Eifth,  the  lightening  of  women  workers'  burdens  is  de- 
manded. Better  planning  and  building  of  the  house,  the 
adoption  of  conveniences  and  comforts,  the  installation  of 
machinery  to  do  the  heavier  work,  and  the  teaching  of  home 
economics  in  the  schools  will  go  far  to  render  the  lot  of  the 
"  hired  girl "  easier  and  pleasanter.  The  establishment  of 
creameries  is  taking  off  much  of  the  hard  work  connected  with 
the  household  process.  Certain  other  kinds  of  work,  such  as 
laundering,  could  be  done  in  an  establishment  connected  with 
a  creamery. 

Accidents  Among  Farm  Labourers. —  We  have  had  occa- 
sion to  notice  the  industrial  character  of  agriculture  by  rea- 
son of  the  large  amount  of  machinery  it  uses.  This  same 
fact  makes  agricultural  work  in  connection  with  much  of 
the  machinery  employed  even  more  dangerous  than  manufac- 
turing labour.  Being  distributed  over  a  large  area  among 


ASPECTS  OF  LASTD  AND  LABOUR         145 

many  separated  communities  the  serious  nature  and  the  large 
number  of  accidents  have  not  become  generally  known  and 
as  a  consequence  sentiment  of  a  preventive  nature  has  not 
formed  and  become  operative. 

The  most  dangerous  machines  in  Minnesota,,  where  the 
facts  of  accidents  are  being  gathered,  are  corn  shredders,  corn 
shellers,  wood  saws,  and  belts  and  gear  wheels  of  various 
machines,  the  former  ranking  first  and  the  latter  second  in 
their  deadliness.  During  twenty  months  corn  shredders  oc- 
casioned forty-one  per  cent,  of  the  accidents  reported.  The 
1911  Minnesota  Legislature  passed  a  law  (copied  from  Wis- 
consin) designed  to  prevent  these  accidents. 

In  accidents  from  corn  shellers  the  operator's  hands  are 
caught  in  the  feed-rolls  and  he  is  drawn  into  the  machine. 
Prevention  consists  in  safety  attachments  which  make  it  im- 
possible for  the  operator  to  reach  these  feed-rolls.  Guards 
attached  to  the  wood-saws  would  be  sufficient  to  prevent 
serious  accidents  in  their  use. 

Belts  and  gears  are  dangerous  because  they  catch  the  limbs 
and  clothes  of  the  workers,  drawing  the  latter  into  the  gear- 
ing or  whirling  them  about  on  the  belt.  Desire  for  economy 
on  the  part  of  farmers  has  led  manufacturers  of  agricultural 
machinery  to  leave  gearings  unguarded.  The  enforcement 
of  legislation  calling  for  appropriate  protection  of  such  parts 
would  reach  the  situation.  Permanent  guards  for  the  belts 
of  stationary  engines,  and  portable  guards  for  tractors  are 
possible  remedies  for  dangerous  belts. 

REFERENCES 

"Report  of  the  Country  Life  Commission,"  pp.  28,  39,  43.  Sturgis 
&  Walton  Co. 

"Organised  Labour  and  the  Farmer,"  Outlook,  84:853. 
Technical  World  Magazine,  January,  1909.     Article  by  Henry  M.  Hyde. 
"  Public  Document  of  the  United  States/'  No.  5452,  p.  110. 
Chicago  Record-Herald,  June  8,  1911  and  March  31,  1911. 
"  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform,"  pp.  645,  1266,  1271. 


146       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

"  Report  on  Unemployed  and  Lack  of  Farm  Labour,"  Survey,  May  13, 
1911,  pp.  264-5. 

"  Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  H.  C.  Taylor.  "  Land  Owner- 
ship and  Tenancy,"  IV:  174  ff.  and  G.  L.  Powers,  "Agricultural  Labour," 
IV:  198. 

Mill,  J.  S.    "  Principles  of  Political  Economy,"  Bk.  II,  Chaps.  6  and  7. 

"  Henderson's  Modern  Methods  of  Charity,"  article  on  Ireland  by  J.  M. 
Gillette,  pp.  272-87. 

Plunkett,  Sir  Horace.  "The  Rural  Life  Problem  of  the  'United 
States." 

"  United  States  Statistical  Atlas/'  1900,  Plate  No.  127. 

"United  States  Statistical  Abstract,"  1908,  Tables  Nos.  60  and  61. 

"Digest  of  Twelfth  Census,"  1900,  Tables  102,  103,  149. 

"  Year  Book  "  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  1906,  pp.  269-74 ;  and 
624. 

Lesoahier,  Don  D.  "  Work  Accidents  and  the  Farm  Hand."  Survey, 
October  7,  1911,  pp.  946-951. 

Hibbard,  B.  H.  "Farm  Tenancy  in  the  United  States."  Annals 
Amer.  Acad.  Pol.  amd  Sod.  S0i.,  March,  1912,  p.  29. 

Coulter,  John  Lee.  "  Agricultural  Labourers  in  the  United  States," 
same,  p.  40. 


CHAPTER  XI 

RURAL,    HEALTH    AND    SAJaTATTOH 
I.    GENERAL    CONSIDERATIONS 

Benefits  of  Betterment. —  The  advantages  of  health  are 
patent.  Men  have  grown  healthier  and  more  robust  with  the 
development  of  civilisation.  Powell  has  shown  how  prolific 
certain  epidemics  were  among  the  American  Indians  at  the 
time  of  the  arrival  of  Europeans.  Their  population  was  fre- 
quently decimated  by  scarlet  fever  and  smallpox  and  kept  at 
low  figures.1 

Ratzel  states  that  primitive  man  was  more  prone  to  disease, 
and  was  less  robust  and  vigorous  than  our  present  civilised 
humanity.2  Recent  investigations  indicate  that  in  urban  re- 
gions longevity  increases  at  the  expense  of  adults,  being  pro- 
longed by  reducing  deaths  among  infants  and  children. 
There  is  some  evidence  that  diseases,  like  weeds,  have  a 
tendency  to  spread  among  certain  sections  of  the  population.3 
The  farming  population  is,  however,  more  immune  from  in- 
roads of  diseases  peculiar  to  civilisation  than  urban  dwellers 
as  we  previously  saw. 

While  all  this  is  true  country  residents  have  reasons  for 
seeking  to  improve  rural  health  conditions.  "  Of  all  persons, 
the  farmer  should  be  best  provided  with  healthful  surround- 
ings. He  has  sunlight,  clean  air,  exercise,  normal  sleep, — 
blessings  so  indigenous  that  he  (loes  nt&  Imow  Ineir  value ; 
he  does  not  realise  the  necessity  of  giving  attention  to  sani- 

1  United  States  Ethnological  Reports,  Vol.  XV. 

2  W.  I.  Thomas,  "  Source  Book  for  Social  Origins,"  pp.  45-47. 

3 "Weeds  and  Disease,"  Robert  Hessler,  M.D.,  Survey,  April  1,  1911, 
p.  51  ff. 

147 


148      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

tary  surroundings.  There  are  no  energetic  boards  of  health 
to  look  over  his  premises.  He  is  so  separated  that  the  neigh- 
bours do  not  complain.  He  has  taken  health  for  granted. 
His  exercise  is  likely  to  be  only  work,  and  it  may  not  develop 
his  physique  or  contribute  to  the  promotion  of  health.  The 
number  of  crooked  and  bent  persons  on  the  farm  is  very  great. 
The  city  man  is  likely  to  have  a  better  carriage.  Probably 
no  persons  are  in  greater  need  of  physical  training  and  set- 
ting-up than  the  farmer,  to  correct  effects  of  his  daily  occu- 
pation and  to  keep  the  body  resistent  and  resilient."  4 

Direction  of  Improvement. —  The  effort  to  improve  health 
in  rural  communities  must  take  several  directions.  1.  Ap- 
plication of  the  principle  of  cleanliness  and  of  sanitation  by 
the  elimination  of  filth-  and  dust-catchers,  and  by  sterilisa- 
tion. The  emphasis  is  to  be  placed  on  sanitation  rather  than 
on  medicine.  The  study  of  morbidity  should  be  displaced 
by  one  of  sanitary  conditions.  People  must  be  taught  how 
to  live  rather  than  left  to  trust  stumbling  and  deficient  expe- 
rience. 

Two  fundamentals  of  sanitation  are  positive  and  clear: 
Keep  the  body  in  normal  condition  and  function ;  and  exclude 
all  manner  of  contamination.  Each  person  must  come  to 
know  himself  by  self-study,  to  learn  his  peculiar  personal 
equation  relative  to  conditions  which  produce  morbidity.  He 
must  come  to  be  the  authority  on  what  is  good  or  bad  for  him 
rather  than  trust  to  the  advice  of  a  physician  who  can  know 
his  peculiarities  of  constitution  but  slightly.  Pure  air, 
abundant  and  regular  sleep,  regular  habits,  cleanliness, 
wholesome  food  and  drink,  active  exercise,  moderation,  calm 
mind,  are  absolute  essentials  to  health,  though  they  may  be 
trite. 

2.  Choice  and  preparation  of  foods.     In  some  ways  the 

*  Bailey  —  Editorial  note  to  Vol.  I,  Chap.  8,  "  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Agriculture." 


RURAL  HEALTH  AJSTD  SANITATION       149 

food  of  the  farmer  has  great  advantages.  Because  he  buys 
less  than  city  dwellers  it  is  less  prone  to  contamination  and 
adulteration.  The  cooking  may  not  secure  the  very  best  re- 
sults, but  it  is  generally  simple  and  veracious,  and  is  superior 
to  much  that  is  served  at  prominent  hotels  and  clubs.  There 
needs  to  be  a  reaction  against  the  growing  practice  of  patron- 
ising factory  made  foods  in  favour  of  home  provisions. 

3.  Reduction  of  household  work.     Frequently  on  the  farm 
there  is  an  enormous  and  needless  expenditure  of  energy. 
Simplification,  planning,  and  the  use  of  mechanical  devices 
are  necessary  means  of  its  reduction.     In  many  families  there 
is  a  large  and  wasteful  display  in  foods.     There  is  a  "  con- 
spicuous consumption  "  at  the  table  in  which  the  average  per- 
son revels  when  a  few  simple  dishes  would  be  better.     Excess, 
gluttony,  and  waste  in  food  and  labour  would  be  better  by 
their  absence. 

4.  State  supervision.     This  should  be  in  the  nature  of  in- 
spection by  governmental  authority  of  the  essential  condi- 
tions of  life  and  should  reach  to  the  planning  of  homes,  their 
management  and  location,  so  as  to  anticipate  and  prevent 
diseases  and  hardships.     Professor  Irving  Fisher  gives  sev- 
eral  reasons   for   supplementing   municipal   hygiene.     The 
country  has  no  other  kind  possible.     The  city  is  dependent 
on  the  country  for  water,  milk,  and  other  supplies.     Typhoid 
is,  in  origin,  a  rural  disease  and  must  be  combated  by  con- 
trolling rural  privies  and  other  sources  of  pollution.     Even 
in  Europe  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  wells  are  unfit  for  use  accord- 
ing to  Koler.5 

A  bureau  of  health  supported  by  the  United  States  govern- 
ment would  be  of  assistance  to  rural  regions  in  giving  more 
attention  to  importation  of  injurious  and  adulterated  foods 
and  drugs,  the  prevention  of  domestic  adulteration;  investi- 
gation into  rural  human  and  animal  diseases,  and  the  promo- 

5  Report  on  National  Vitality,  p.  59. 


150      COJSTSTBUCTIVE  RUKAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

tion  of  rural  sanitation.  The  work  carried  on  by  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  in  the  enforcement  of  the  food  and 
drug  act  illustrates  this.  In  1910  it  pressed  766  criminal 
cases  and  224  seizure  proceedings,  gaming  convictions  in  224 
of  the  former  and  132  of  the  latter,  a  large  portion  in  each 
instance  remaining  pending.6 

5.  Education  should  be  used  as  an  agency  of  rural  health 
improvement.  Besides  organised  play,  which,  if  introduced, 
would  encourage  exercises  of  a  useful  nature  for  symmetrical 
development,  special  attention  should  be  given  to  practical 
teaching  relative  to  matters  of  health  and  sanitation.  Avail- 
able literature  of  a  simple  nature  now  exists  to  carry  on  this 
work,  and  there  is  sufficient  reason  why  it  should  find  general 
use  as  texts  and  supplementary  reading. 

So  long  as  farmers  empty  slop  and  sewage  about  wells 
which  contain  their  drinking  water,  dig  wells  in  barnyards 
to  be  used  alike  by  man  and  beast,  maintain  outdoor  closets 
so  vile  and  filthy  as  to  stifle  those  using  them,  leave  dead 
animals  to  rot  unburied  near  dwellings,  encourage  conditions 
which  breed  germ-transmitting  flies  by  the  millions,  defy 
laws  of  air-space  and  ventilation  in  homes  and  school  build- 
ings alike,  there  is  ample  confirmation  of  the  assertion  that 
our  rural  schools  should  give  instruction  in  these  subjects. 

II.    SANITATION    IN    THE   HOME. 

The  subject  of  household  sanitation  is  almost  as  large  as 
the  field  of  sanitary  engineering.  It  is  so  extensive  that  at- 
tention to  the  details  of  the  matter  is  practically  impossible 
in  the  allotted  space.  The  larger  essential  matters  alone  will 
receive  consideration. 

Care  of  the  Home. —  Most  people  are  forced  to  make  use 
of  the  buildings  already  on  the  farm.  "  In  such  a  case  it 
is  well  to  remember  that  the  cardinal  sanitary  points  about 
a  home  are  freedom  from  dampness;  light  and  sunshine  in 

«  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  1910,  pp.  31-32. 


RURAL  HEALTH  AND  SAOTTATIOK       151 

every  room ;  large  windows,  sufficient  air  space,  good  ventila- 
tion, and  sufficient  heat.  These  should  be  had  at  any  cost." 
Small  rooms  may  be  merged,  improving  ventilation  and  re- 
ducing cost  of  light  and  heat.  Dark  and  unventilated  stairs 
should  be  remedied.  "  The  surroundings  of  a  country  home 
should  be  well  kept,  the  garden  being  filled  with  ornamental 
shrubs  and  flowers.  There  should  be  no  backyard  littered 
up  with  cans,  ashes,  and  other  refuse,  but  there  should  be 
some  portion  of  the  grounds,  close  to  the  house  set  apart  for 
the  use  of  children."  They  should  be  encouraged  at  an  early 
age  to  keep  their  playground  free  from  rubbish  which  should 
be  burned  or  buried.7 

In  the  general  care  of  a  house  the  matter  of  dust-prevention 
is  important.  The  use  of  rugs  which  may  easily  be  removed 
and  cleaned,  the  application  of  a  good  floor  dressing,  elimina- 
tion of  germ  laden  dust  by  proper  methods  of  sweeping, 
cleaning,  and  dusting,  are  essential  safeguards  to  health. 

Water. — »  1.  Poor  water  and  health.  There  is  an  increase 
in  the  impurity  of  our  water  with  increase  of  density  of 
population.  Very  little  pure  water  exists.  "  In  Vermont 
the  examination  of  231  samples  of  water  from  wells,  springs, 
and  ponds  showed  that  22  per  cent,  of  the  springs,  50  per 
cent,  of  the  wells,  and  41  per  cent,  of  the  ponds  were  impure 
or  of  doubtful  purity.  The  importance  of  pure  water  to  a 
community  is  shown  by  statistics  of  death  rates.  They  show 
that  with  the  improvement  of  city  water  supplies  the  death 
rate  has  greatly  decreased.8 

2.  Wells  are  depended  on  chiefly  for  the  water  supply  in 
rural  districts.  They  are  often  made  defective  by  being 
located  on  lower  ground  than  privies  and  barnyards,  in  the 
barnyard,  and  by  the  absence  of  curb  or  tight  fitting  cover. 
Pumps  are  superior  to  old-fashioned  well  sweep  or  pail  and 
rope,  though  the  "  Old  Oaken  Bucket "  sounds  fine  in  a 

7  Brewer,  "  Rural  Hygiene/'  pp.  39-41. 

«  Monthly  Bulletin,  N.  Y.  State  Dept.  Health,  April,  1908. 


152      CONSTEUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

poem.  "  In  India  the  well-bucket  is  a  fruitful  source  of 
the  dissemination  of  cholera,  and  what  is  true  of  cholera  is 
generally  true  of  typhoid  fever." 

Geological  formation  has  much  to  do  with  the  quality  of 
water.  A  good  well  is  one  that  is  sunk  into  a  water  bearing 
stratum  that  is  separated  from  the  surface  by  an  impervious 
layer  of  clay,  slate,  or  similar  material.  It  should  be 
curbed,  lined  with  cement  from  top  to  bottom,  and  provided 
with  a  tight  fitting  cover  that  has  sufficient  pitch  to  throw 
off  all  rainwater. 

Artesian  wells  usually  furnish  pure  water,  save  in  lime- 
stone regions.  Depth  is  not  necessarily  a  sign  of  purity.  A 
geologist  should  be  consulted  as  to  the  strata  of  a  region. 

3.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  spring  water  is  pure.     The 
same  facts  relate  to  the  creation  of  impurities  in  springs  as 
in  wells.     An  especial  cause  of  impurity  is  dipping  dirty 
vessels  into  it.     Clearness  of  water  is  not  an  evidence  of 
purity.     Instances  are  known  where  large  springs  have  drawn 
their  supply  from  polluted  marshes  in  the  other  side  of  the 
mountain.     Springs  should  be  curbed,  covered,  and  piped. 

4.  Rainwater  is  probably  the  purest  country  water  supply 
since  there  is  little  impurity  in  the  air.     Cisterns  should 
be  provided  with  sand  and  gravel  filters  to  extract  particles 
of  dust.     The  cistern  is  better  located  in  the  garret  or  above 
ground,  as  underground  walls  frequently  crack  and  let  in 
pollution  from  surface  drainage.     As  we  shall  see  there  are 
motors  of  various  sorts  to  elevate  water.     The  pneumatic 
tank  offers  a  very  satisfactory  method  of  elevation. 

5.  The  use  of  surface  water  always  should  be  avoided  as 
dangerous,  since  it  is  likely  to  be  impure.     Sewerage,  drain- 
age, tramps,  railway  trains,  animals,  are  sources  of  contamina- 
tion. 

6.  When  a  contaminated  water  supply  must  be  relied  on 
some  purification  process  should  be  used.     The  most  satis- 
factory method  is  a  good  sand  filter,  but  the  cost  attached 


RURAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION       153 

is  usually  preventive.  Domestic  filters  are  fine  in  theory 
but  unsafe  in  practice.  The  most  reliable  and  economical 
method  is  that  of  boiling  the  drinking  water  for  a  period  of 
from  five  to  twenty  minutes.  The  Forbes  steriliser  boils 
water  at  the  lowest  possible  cost  with  practically  complete 
destruction  of  germs.  In  default  of  this,  boiling  in  a  suit- 
able vessel  on  the  kitchen  stove  will  do.  The  water  should 
be  cooled  and  kept  in  a  stone  jar  or  "water  cooler"  safely 
covered. 

The  best  .expedient  for  determining  the  purity  of  the  water 
supply  is  to  send  a  small  bottle  of  water  to  the  State  Board 
of  Health,  or  to  the  State  Public  Health  Laboratory  for 
analysis. 

Garbage  and  Sewage.—  The  safe  disposal  of  garbage  and 
sewage,  the  refuse  and  slops  of  the  home  and  barn,  are  vital 
matters  in  farm  health. 

1.  The  disposal  of  ashes,  garbage,  manure,  and  miscel- 
laneous refuse  is  perhaps  more  a  matter  of  esthetics  than  of 
health  in  the  country.  Yet  the  more  regularly  they  are  dis- 
posed of  the  better  for  the  healthfulness  and  comfort  of  the 
home.  Kitchen  refuse  from  the  preparation  of  food  can  be 
saved  for  the  pigs  and  chickens.  It  should  be  collected  in 
galvanised-iron  pails  which  are  furnished  with  tightly  clos- 
ing covers  to  prevent  exposure  to  the  sun  and  to  avoid  flies. 
Whatever  cannot  be  used  in  this  way  should  be  burned  or 
buried.  Recently  a  device  has  been  patented  which  enables 
the  housekeeper  to  place  the  garbage  in  a  section  of  the  smoke 
pipe  of  the  range,  where  it  dries  out  rapidly,  burns,  and 
leaves  only  a  little  charcoal  behind,  which  may  be  used  for 
fuel. 

Manure  should  be  removed  for  use,  both  for  sanitary  and 
economical  reasons.  It  loses  value  by  fermentation,  and  by 
weathering  and  leaching  if  left  for  a  considerable  time. 
Moistening  will  delay  fermentation.  A  simple  and  cheap 
device  against  flies  is  to  have  a  screened-in  cage,  into  which 


154      CONSTKUCTIVE  EUKAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

the  manure  is  deposited  for  its  weekly  or  monthly  removal. 

2.  Sewage  disposal  is  positively  vital  to  health.  "Not  only 
is  it  important  in  the  open  country,  but  even  more,  in  the 
half -developed  village  or  town  with  its  usual  unsanitary  con- 
ditions. The  contaminating  privy  and  cesspool  occur  close 
by  the  well.  The  premature  introduction  of  a  water  supply 
system  causes  a  saturation  of  the  ground  from  the  sewage, 
so  that  the  wells  of  households  not  yet  connected  with  the 
water  supply  are  jeopardised.  Disastrous  results  from  epi- 
demics of  typhoid  fever  and  other  -diseases  often  ensue. 

The  extent  to  which  sewage  matter  contaminates  the  soil 
was  shown  by  Foder  for  the  Hungarian  city,  Budapest.  "  By 
analysing  soil  at  different  levels  from  the  surface  to  a  depth 
of  about  15  feet,  he  found,  over  an  area  comprising  15  acres, 
about  1,000,000,000  pounds  organic  matter,  equivalent  to 
the  excrement  of  100,000  people  voided  during  thirty-seven 
years."  9 

If  the  slops  from  the  kitchen  are  not  fed  to  animals  they 
may  be  emptied  over  a  considerable  area  of  ground,  a  new 
place  being  chosen  each  time.  Oxidation  and  nitrification 
of  the  organic  matter  which  is  carried  on  in  the  open  air 
rapidly  converts  it  into  inoffensive  earth  material.  In  case 
a  kitchen  sink  and  drain  pipe  exists,  a  system  of  sub-surface 
irrigation  may  be  used.  Earth  soil  or  human  excrement  may 
be  disposed  of  in  the  same  manner,  where  the  soil  is  favour- 
able except  in  cases  of  disease,  where  the  use  of  a  water  sup- 
ply produces  a  solution  of  not  less  than  500  parts  of  water 
to  one  of  solids. 

Filtration  by  disposing  in  sand  plots  is  another  mode.  A 
tract  of  sand  containing  200  to  400  square  feet  of  surface 
and  having  a  depth  of  from  three  to  five  feet  is  best.  It 
should  be  raked  to  a  depth  of  an  inch  each  week  to  keep  free 
from  clogging,  especially  in  winter. 

Cess-pools  should  be  used  in  no  case.     They  merely  place 

»  Theobald  Smith,  M.D.,  op.  cit.,  p.  6. 


KUKAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION        155 

the  sewage  out  of  sight.  Unceinented  cess-pools  allow  the 
surrounding  soil  to  saturate  and  create  a  menace.  Cemented 
ones  crack  and  cause  the  same  danger,  besides  being  too  trou- 
blesome to  operate,  as  frequent  cleanings  are  necessary. 
Where  a  water-carriage  system  is  absent  the  earth-closet  is 
allowable. 

The  chemical  indoor  closet  is  a  possible  means  of  disposing 
of  human  excrement.  A  receptacle  placed  under  the  seat  to 
catch  the  excrement  contains  chemicals  which  are  antiseptic 
and  deodorising  in  character.  Careful  attention  to  emptying 
the  collection  of  waste  and  to  cleansing  the  receptacle  makes 
this  a  safe  and  desirable  mode  of  disposal,  where  a  water- 
carriage  system  is  impossible.  Neglect  constitutes  it  an  in- 
strument of  filth  and  a  positive  danger  to  health. 

Insects  and  Animals. —  Insect  life  is  a  source  of  danger  to 
the  health  of  rural  inhabitants.  Many  of  the  menaces  may 
be  removed.  All  may  be  reduced. 

1.  Flies  are  the  most  prevalent  and  insinuating  nuisances 
and  source  of  disease.  Dr.  Brewer  writes :  "  Flies  are  not 
only  a  nuisance  but  are  one  of  the  means  of  disseminating 
typhoid  fever,  cholera,  and  diarrhoea  among  human  beings, 
and  runa  and  anthrax  among  horses  and  cattle."  The  house 
fly  or  stable  fly  is  our  worst  enemy.  It  breeds  in  filth,  feeds 
on  excrement,  and  flies  to  foods.  Its  breeding  place  is  pref- 
erentially horse-manure,  but  it  uses  any  collection  of  vegetable 
matter  for  this  purpose.  Multiplication  takes  place  rapidly. 
Each  female  lays  about  120  eggs  at  a  time.  They  develop  in 
about  ten  days.  Consequently  about  thirteen  generations 
mature  during  one  season  and  the  descendants  of  one  fly  may 
amount  to  many  millions. 

The  hairy  legs  and  bodies  of  the  fly  make  splendid  lodging 
places  for  the  disease  germs  of  dust  and  filth.  This  is  strik- 
ingly shown  by  microscopic  examination.  The  fly  wipes  its 
feet  on  whatever  it  walks  over,  as  photographs  of  exposed 
plates  have  shown.  It  is  seen  how  disease  germs  deposited 


156      CONSTEUCTIVE  EUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

in  exposed  privy  vaults,  manure  piles  and  garbage  heaps  may 
be  transferred  to  the  house,  and  to  the  foods  over  which  it 
walks,  and  thus  how  everything  is  polluted  it  touches. 

The  preventives  for  this  pestilence  may  be  put  tersely. 
Keep  the  flies  out  of  the  house  by  means  of  screens.  If 
they  get  in  exterminate  them.  Destroy  their  breeding  places 
by  abolishing  the  privy,  clearing  away  garbage,  and  covering 
the  stable  refuse.  Disinfect  all  discharges  from  the  body 
which  may  serve  to  spread  disease  germs  by  means  of  flies. 
Place  cattle  pens,  hog  lots,  chicken  yards,  and  stables  some 
distance  from  the  house. 

Besides  the  house  or  stable  fly,  there  are  chiefly  two  others 
which  breed  in  human  excrement  exclusively,  and  in  over- 
ripe and  decaying  fruit. 

2.  The  mosquito  is  the  bearer  of  malaria.  This  disease 
is  largely  confined  to  the  country  and  especially  to  the  newer 
and  undrained  regions.  Only  the  genus  Anophales  carries 
malarial  germs,  the  genus  Culex  being  innocent.  Anophales 
breed  "  in  still  side  pools  of  small  streams,  in  the  swampy 
pools  at  the  margins  of  larger  ponds,  in  stagnant  water  in 
ditches,  in  the  beds  of  old  canals,  in  the  still  water  at  the 
sides  of  springs,  and  occasionally,  though  rarely,  in  old  horse 
troughs." 

A  third  form  of  mosquitoes  exists,  stegomya,  which  is  the 
bearer  of  yellow  fever,  inhabiting  like  the  other  kinds  open 
and  stagnant  water. 

Preventive  means  consist  in  locating  the  breeding  places 
within  several  hundred  yards  of  the  house,  and  filling,  drain- 
ing, or  treating  them  with  kerosene  oil  —  the  kind  known  as 
light  fuel  oil  —  every  two  or  three  weeks ;  or  in  introducing 
certain  fish  which  feed  upon  the  larvae,  such  as  top  minnows, 
sticklebacks,  young  sunfish,  or  goldfish.  Progs  also  prey 
upon  them.  Since  malaria  and  yellow  fever  can  be  trans- 
mitted, only  by  mosquitoes  which  have  bitten  victims  of 
those  diseases,  prevention  consists  in  dealing  with  the  insect 


EUEAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION        157 

bearers.  Individuals  afflicted  with  malaria  may  be  cured  by 
the  use  of  quinine.  Screening  the  windows  and  doors  of 
houses  is  of  course  a  protection  of  those  within  doors  against 
mosquitoes. 

3.  Certain  other  insects  and  animals  are  disease  bearers. 
The  "  cat  and  dog  flea  "  is  doubtless  the  bearer  of  the  bubonic 
plague,  infecting  not  only  cats  and  dogs,  but  more  insidi- 
ously rats  and  such  rodents  as  ground  squirrels.  Pink-eye 
in  the  southern  states  is  distributed  by  a  very  minute  flea. 
"  Texas  fever  "  is  carried  among  cattle  by  the  common  cattle 
tick,  and  anthrax  among  cattle  by  the  gadflies  and  horseflies. 
When  these  flies  subsequently  bite  human  beings  malignant 
pustules  may  result.  The  common  bedbug  is  also  suspected. 

Extermination  of  the  rat  in  San  Francisco  stopped  the 
spread  of  the  bubonic  plague.  The  state  of  California  is  now 
waging  war  on  the  ground  squirrel.  Cats  and  dogs  should 
be  kept  free  from  vermin,  or  else  not  maintained.  Burning 
sulphur  candles,  and  the  use  of  gasoline,  or  a  mixture  of  wood 
alcohol  and  corrosive  sublimate,  by  means  of  a  vapouriser,  are 
useful  means  of  exterminating  bedbugs. 

Poods. —  It  is  recognised  that  foods  are  a  great  source  of 
danger  to  health.  Adulteration,  against  which  the  United 
States  and  many  states  have  legislated,  and  established  food 
commissioners  and  inspectors,  is  not  the  only  source.  Care 
in  selecting,  keeping,  and  cooking  food  is  needed,  especially 
in  the  case  of  meats  and  animal  products. 

1.  Putrefaction   is   liable   in   meats    and   meat   products. 
This  produces  a  virulent  poison  known  as  ptomaine  which 
is  a  by-product  of  the  growth  of  the  putrefaction  bacteria. 
Cooking  does  not  destroy  it.     Flesh,   fish,  shell-fish,  milk, 
cheese,  pies,  sausages,  etc.,  are  subject  to  this. 

2.  Unclean  fruits  and  vegetables,  contaminated  by  filth 
on  the  soil  in  which  they  are  grown ;  or  by  sprays,  handling 
with  unclean  hands,  exposure  to  the  dust  of  stores  and  streets, 
and  even  to  the  filth  of  dogs,  are  causes  of  disease.     Thorough 


158      CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

washing,  preservation  in  cool  clean  places,  the  adoption  of 
sanitary  processes  of  production,  handling,  and  marketing, 
are  needed  protective  devices.  A  clean  ice  box  or  refriger- 
ator should  be  in  every  house. 

3.  Hogs    are    frequent    sources    of    diseased    conditions. 
Trichinosis  has  its  origin  in  diseased  hogs.     It  is  conveyed 
to  them  through  the  faeces  of  animals  or  men  which  are  in- 
fected, through  flesh,  and  by  refuse  and  rats  from  slaughter 
houses ;  and  is  conveyed  to  men  by  eating  uncooked  meat,  raw 
pork,  or  ham.     Thorough  cooking  of  hog  meat  is  a  safe- 
guard, as  is  also  animal  inspection.     Hogs  are  also  the  source 
of  tape  worm  which  is  communicated  to  them  from  infected 
fsBces  of  men  or  animals;  and  man  contracts  it  by  eating 
the  uncooked  meat,  or  other  food  washed  in  infected  water, 
or  through  unwashed,  infected  hands.     Healthy  hogs  may  be 
secured  to  a  large  degree  by  constructing  piggeries  which  are 
clean,  warm,  well  ventilated,  and  well  lighted.     This  is  a 
decided  antithesis  to  the  common  notion  that  anything  is 
good  enough  for  a  hog. 

4.  The  milk  supply  is  one  of  the  most  important  food 
sources  and  also  causes  of  sickness.     It  is  produced  in  the 
country  for  both  rural  and  city  consumers  and  has  come  to 
receive  much  attention  because  of  its  vital  nature.     It  may 
be  dangerous  for  two  reasons;  first,  because  it  contains  dis- 
ease bacteria ;  second,  because  it  contains  too  many  bacteria. 

Of  544,533  deaths  in  the  registration  area  of  the  United 
States  in  1905,  105,553  were  of  children  under  5,  and  of 
these  39,399  died  of  enteritis.  Behring,  an  authority  of 
Germany,  finds  that  of  every  1,000  children  born  233  die  dur- 
ing the  first  year,  510  males  out  of  1,000  reach  manhood,  and 
not  over  one-third  of  these  are  fit  for  military  duty.  This 
he  attributes  to  milk  infection  during  infancy.  Dr.  George 
Goler  of  Rochester  has  shown  that  clean  milk  has  reduced 
mortality  of  the  city  in  children  of  five  and  under,  from 
7,451  in  the  decade  1887-96  to  4,965  in  that  from  1898- 


EUEAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION       159 

1906,  although  meanwhile  Rochester  increased  its  population 
from  20  to  25  per  cent. 

Tubercle  bacilli  are  frequent  in  milk.  It  is  evident  that  if 
tubercular  cows  give  tubercular  milk  and  that  if  persons  con- 
suming this  milk  may  contract  the  disease,  which  has  been 
demonstrated,  government  inspectors  of  milk  cows  or  pre- 
ventive treatment  of  milk  are  necessary. 

Hogs  may  contract  tuberculosis  by  feeding  on  infected 
milk.  Butter  and  cheese  preserve  the  germs  a  long  time  and 
consequently  it  is  not  safe  to  manufacture  tubercular  milk 
into  those  products. 

Not  only  may  disease  bacteria  get  into  milk  from  cows, 
but  they  may  intrude  during  milking  from  manure  on  the 
cow,  dust  in  the  barn,  filthy  hands  and  clothes  of  the  milker, 
unsanitary  pails,  and  improper  methods  of  preservation. 
Schroeder  estimates  that  as  large  a  quantity  as  one  part  of 
cow  dung  to  400  of  milk  is  sold  in  many  cities.  Good  au- 
thorities believe  milk  is  dangerous  when  it  contains  over  50,- 
000  bacteria  per  cubic  centimetre.  The  Pediatric  society  of 
Philadelphia  puts  10,000  as  the  maximum,  although  milk  in 
most  cities  contains  millions  of  these  germs,  especially  in 
the  winter  months. 

Sanitary  requirements  on  the  farm  consist  in  securing 
healthy  cows,  in  keeping  them  clean  and  in  clean,  well  pro- 
tected, well  ventilated  barns  in  winter.  The  following  re- 
quirements are  recognised  in  order  to  have  a  pure  milk  sup- 
ply: (1)  Healthy  cows.  (2)  Wholesome  food  and  pure 
water  for  cows.  (3)  Good  protection  against  storms  and 
cold  to  prevent  exposure  and  colds.  (4)  Clean  barns,  cows, 
and  milking  places.  Dust  and  dirt  convey  bacteria,  and 
odours  impose  a  bad  taste  to  the  milk,  alfalfa  especially. 
Cows  should  be  groomed  before  milking.  (5)  Sufficient 
ventilation  in  barns.  Each  cow  secretes  about  7  pounds  of 
moisture  daily  in  breathing,  sufficient  to  provoke  tuberculosis 
where  ventilation  does  not  exist.  (6)  Clean  hands  and 


160      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

clothes  in  milking.  (7)  Sterilised  pails,  and  if  used,  me- 
chanical milkers.  (8)  Milk  should  be  cooled,  as  soon  as 
drawn,  to  a  temperature  of  45°  to  50°,  and  kept  at  that  or 
below,  since  bacteria  multiply  very  rapidly  at  a  higher  tem- 
perature. 

Transmissible  Diseases. —  Malaria,  tetanus,  diarrhoea,  dys- 
entery, measles,  scarlet  fever,  diphtheria,  smallpox,  whooping 
cough,  typhoid  fever,  and  tuberculosis  are  considered  trans- 
missible. They  are  all  serious  either  in  themselves  or  in 
after  effects.  Measles  is  followed  by  such  results  as  deafness 
from  inflammation  of  the  ears,  and  even  tuberculosis;  scar- 
letina,  one  of  the  most  serious  diseases  of  childhood,  is  fol- 
lowed by  disorders  of  kidneys,  deafness,  and  feebleminded- 
ness; whooping  cough,  one  of  the  most  fatal  diseases  to 
children,  may  result  in  pneumonia  or  tuberculosis  of  lungs. 
Mental  deficiency  follows  childhood  afflictions  often  enough 
to  make  them  dreaded. 

Each  one  of  these  diseases  may  have  its  particular  kind 
of  cause  and  its  special  regime  or  line  of  treatment.  We 
have  already  discussed  typhoid,  malaria,  tuberculosis,  in 
certain  respects,  in  so  far  as  they  depend  on  special  kinds  of 
sources.  Preventive  means  of  those  special  conditions  were 
suggested.  Diphtheria  may  require  the  use  of  antitoxin; 
smallpox,  of  vaccination,  etc. 

Our  province  is  to  suggest  general  precautions  which 
should  be  resorted  to  when  a  disease  is  suspected.  Such 
precautions  as  the  following  should  be  adopted : 

(1)  Isolate  in  a  room  accessible  only  to  the  nurse  or  per- 
son taking  care  of  the  patient.  (2)  The  attendant  and  phy- 
sician should  slip  on  a  gown  or  its  equivalent  while  in  the 
sick  room.  (3)  Secretions  and  excreta  should  be  disinfected 
before  taken  from  the  room.  (4)  As  soon  as  the  subject 
is  stricken  the  bed  and  body  clothing  should  be  disinfected. 
(5)  Separate  eating  utensils,  clothes,  cloths,  etc.,  should  be 
kept  in  the  sick  room  and  disinfected  there.  (6)  Neigh- 


KUEAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION       161 

bours  should  be  excluded  from  the  sick  room  absolutely,  and 
from  the  home  if  possible. 

III.    NEIGHBOURHOOD    SANITATION". 

Need  of  Cooperation. —  Sanitary  and  hygienic  precautions 
on  the  part  of  the  neighbourhood  are  almost  as  essential  to 
the  health  of  a  community  as  are  those  of  the  individual 
home.  The  individuals  of  a  community  visit  from  home 
to  home,  attend  church  and  other  congregating  places,  and 
especially  the  children  meet  each  other  daily  in  school.  It 
is  apparent  that  conditions  of  various  kinds  arise  over  which 
the  homes  of  a  neighbourhood,  acting  in  their  individual 
capacities,  can  have  no  control,  and  yet  by  which  their  health 
is  placed  in  jeopardy. 

Swamps  and  ditches  containing  stagnant  water,  on  the 
surface  of  which  pestilential  mosquitoes  breed,  may  exist  in 
the  neighbourhood.  Collective  action  is  required  to  drain  or 
fill  such  places.  Mines  and  factories  may  dump  their  refuse 
into  the  streams  which  pass  through  the  farms  to  contaminate 
the  water  supply.  Nearby  cities  may  pollute  the  streams 
or  neighbouring  low  places  with  their  sewage  and  garbage. 
Trains  which  pass  through  drip  with  oil  and  from  their 
toilet  rooms  emit  quantities  of  human  excrement.  Tramps 
leave  their  refuse  strewn  around.  The  slaughter  houses  of 
villages  and  small  cities  are  located  in  the  country  and  are 
commonly  without  regulation.  Pernicious  and  germ  laden 
dust  from  adjoining  highways  is  swept  into  open  homes  in  the 
summer. 

Only  concerted  action  by  the  residents  of  the  community 
is  capable  of  remedying  many  of  those  conditions.  Some  of 
them,  as  that  of  the  distribution  of  human  excrement  by 
trains,  require  regulation  by  the  larger  public,  state  or  na- 
tion. But  agitation  and  discussion  of  every  one  of  them 
by  the  public  brings  enlightenment  and  finally  remedial 
measures. 


162       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

The  School  and  School  Children —  The  school  constitute 
a  special  condition  which  requires  particular  attention.  If 
every  home  took  perfect  care  of  its  children,  watching  them 
diligently  to  detect  the  symptoms  of  transmissible  diseases, 
and  isolating  them  as  soon  as  such  malady  is  discovered, 
following  the  precautions  outlined  in  the  preceding  division, 
very  little  attention  by  the  school  to  such  matters  would  be 
needed.  Unfortunately  this  ideal  state  in  the  homes  is  want- 
ing. Very  few  parents  withdraw  their  children  from  public 
concourse  as  soon  as  one  of  the  so-called  "  harmless  "  va- 
rieties is  detected.  Very  few  of  the  disinfecting  preventives 
and  precautionary  devices  for  spreading  the  sickness  farther 
are  practised.  Investigations  into  health  condition  of  school 
children  indicate  the  prevalence  of  transmissible  diseases. 

Of  432,937  children  examined  in  Massachusetts  in  1906, 
27,342  were  found  diseased,  not  including  those  with  de- 
fective eyes  or  ears. 

The  following  table  gives  a  list  of  the  diseases  and  the 
number  of  children  subject  to  each. 

TABLE  XIX 

DISEASES  OF  SCHOOL  CHELDBEN 

Diphtheria  238  Other  diseases  of  oral  and 

Scarlet  Fever    313         respiratory  tracts   5,103 

Measles    637  Otitis  (inflammation  of  ear)  407 

Whooping  Cough   973     Other  diseases  of  ear 363 

Mumps   267     Conjunctivitis  779 

Chicken  Pox  548     Other  diseases  of  eye 2,159 

Influenza    276      Scabies  and  pediculosis 8,745 

Syphilis    36     Skin  diseases 3,453 

Tuberculosis    115     Nervous  diseases 146 

Erysipelas    17     Deformities   142 

Adenoidg    2,525 

Total 27,342 

Similar  results  have  been  obtained  in  other  large  cities. 
Conditions  there  are  no  doubt  intensified  by  close  contact. 
But  if  the  list  surpasses  that  of  the  country  in  transmissible 


RURAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION       163 

diseases,  it  is  scarcely  likely  that  this  is  the  case  relative  to 
affections  of  eyes,  ears,  nostrils,  spine,  etc. 

The  latter  class  of  defects  mentioned  calls  for  quite  as 
serious  attention  on  the  part  of  rural  schools  as  transmissible 
diseases.  Deficiency  in  physical  conditions  of  children 
mounts  very  high  in  cities.  Recent  statistics  bring  this  out 
in  a  most  alarming  way.  From  25  and  30  to  70  and  75 
per  cent,  of  defective  children  are  found,  the  per  cent,  vary- 
ing from  city  to  city.  The  accompanying  (Table  XX)  table 
exhibits  the  percentages  of  the  most  frequent  physical  de- 
fects in  four  of  our  large  cities. 

TABLE  XX 

PHYSICAL  DEFECTS  OF  SCHOOL  CHILDREN 


Defects                New  York 

Balti- 
more 

Phila- 
delphia 

Minne- 
apolis 

Defective   teeth 

74% 

10.5% 
5.3 
11.1 
1.6 

0.37 
4.5 

4.4 

1.7% 
1.0 
4.5 
0.23 

0.96 
1.3 
2.0 
2.06 

41.8% 
14.8 
27.6 
49.6 

8.1 
21.2 
12.1 

Adenoids    

.  39 

Enlarged  tonsils 

.  46 

Enlarged  glands   

Defective   hearing   and   es 
troubles   

tr 
.     1 

Defective  vision  and  eyes. 
Pediculosis    

.   15 
.     0.4 

Skin  diseases   . 

All  of  these  defects  need  attention.  They  may  not  be 
immediately  serious  but  they  place  a  great  handicap  on  the 
child  in  his  work,  retarding  his  mental  development,  placing 
an  effectual  check  on  some  attainments,  impoverishing  his 
body,  and  often  driving  him  from  school. 

Pencils,  books,  and  the  public  drinking  cup,  in  the  school 
are  means  of  scattering  diseases.  The  importance  of  the 
common  cup  to  public  health  is  generally  recognised.  Ten 
states  have  prohibited  its  use.  Similar  legislation  is  pending 
in  eleven  other  states.  Twenty  State  Boards  of  Health,  and 
as  many  city  boards,  have  decried  against  it.  In  1911,  the 
New  York  City  Board  of  Health  prohibited  its  use  in  public 


164      COISTSTKUCTIVE  EUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

place  or  institutions,  hotel,  theatre,  factory,  public  hall,  pub- 
lic school,  railway  station  or  ferry  house.10 

The  germs  of  grippe,  pneumonia,  diphtheria,  and  tonsilitis 
are  carried  in  the  mouth  of  many  well  persons.  Examina- 
tions have  proved  this:  100  persons  out  of  4,250  persons 
examined  in  Massachusetts,  5  per  cent,  in  Philadelphia,  and 
70  out  of  1,000  in  Minnesota  carried  diphtheria  germs;  60 
per  cent,  of  catarrh  cases  in  Boston  showed  grippe  bacilli; 
and  considerable  evidence  existed  of  the  presence  of  germs 
of  sore  throat,  pneumonia,  bronchitis,  and  tuberculosis.  Ex- 
aminations of  drinking  cups  reveal  the  accumulation  of  such 
germs.  One  cup  in  use  nine  days  in  a  school  contained  not 
less  than  100,000  bacteria  on  every  square  inch  of  the  glass. 

In  the  cities  medical  inspection  of  school  children,  along 
with  a  system  of  nurses  to  secure  treatment  in  free  clinics 
for  the  children  where  parents  will  not  look  after  them,  are 
solving  the  problem.  The  playground  should  also  be  men- 
tioned as  a  factor. 

The  problem  is  a  difficult  one  in  the  country.  Medical 
inspection  has  not  yet  been  worked  out  for  rural  regions. 
It  would  seem  that  a  system  of  travelling  inspectors  would 
be  entirely  possible,  one  for  a  given  township  or  larger  dis- 
trict for  example.  Until  a  plan  is  put  into  operation  rural 
teachers  must  be  their  own  inspectors.  "  Every  rural 
teacher  should  know  enough  about  children's  diseases  to  dis- 
cover by  their  outward  signs  the  common  contagions,  and, 
acting  upon  this  knowledge,  place  the  patient  under  a  phy- 
sician's care.  He  should  be  able  to  detect  the  minor  eradicable 
defects  in  pupils  under  his  care,  as,  for  example,  enlarged 
tonsils,  adenoids,  and  incorrect  vision.  Then  he  should  be 
strong  enough  in  his  duty  to  insist  that  all  such  ailments  be 
given  immediate  attention." 

Ventilation,  moisture,  heat,  and  light  are  important  mat- 
ters in  the  school  room.  The  one-room  school  house  is  gen- 

IQ  Survey,  April  22,  1911,  p.  146. 


KUEAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION       165 

erally  built  without  much  regard  to  these  things.  There 
should  be  plenty  of  light  introduced  from  the  back  or  sides 
of  the  room  above  the  heads  of  the  pupils.  A  jacketed  stove 
should  be  used.  An  invention  permits  air  to  be  taken  from 
without,  drawn  up  within  the  stove  jacket,  and  distributed 
evenly  throughout  the  room.  The  same  device  provides  fresh 
air  laden  with  moisture  from  outdoors. 

The  toilets  and  drinking  water  are  other  matters  for  con- 
trol. -  What  has  been  said  elsewhere  about  securing  sanitary 
conditions  relative  to  these  will  apply  here.  But  safety  de- 
vices in  the  school  are  even  more  demanded  than  in  the  home. 
The  water  should  be  kept  in  the  hall  in  a  covered  tank  or 
cooler  and  drawn  from  a  spigot  into  individual  sterilised 
drinking  cups.  Where  sewage  disposal  cannot  be  operated 
by  the  water-carriage  system  the  earth  closet  should  be  re- 
sorted to,  and  provided  with  an  automatic  device  for  dis- 
tributing the  earth.  There  should  be  separate  buildings  for 
the  sexes,  each  provided  with  suitable  seats  for  the  children 
of  different  sizes.  These  buildings  should  be  heated  in  win- 
ter if  possible,  kept  clean,  and  inspected  daily  by  the  teacher, 
who  should  also  prevent  loafing  and  bad  language  in  them. 

REFERENCES  TO  DIVISION  I 

"United  States  Ethnological  Report,"  Vol.  XV. 

W.  I.  Thomas.     "  Source  Book  for  Social  Origins,"  pp.  46-7. 

"Weeds  and  Disease,"  Robert  Hessler,  M.D.,  The  Survey,  April  1, 
1911,  p.  5  ff. 

"  Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  8. 

"  Report  on  National  Vitality,"  Irving  Fisher,  p.  59. 

"  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,"  1910,  pp.  31-32. 

"  Health  Conditions  in  the  Open  Country,"  L.  H.  Bailey,  "  The  Train- 
ing of  the  Farmer,"  pp.  46  ff. 

"  Town  and  City,"  Introduction,  L.  H.  Gulick. 

"  Exercise  and  Rest,"  L.  H.  Gulick,  Russell  Sage  Foundation  Bulletin, 
No.  76. 

REFERENCES  TO  DIVISION  II 

"  Rural  Hygiene,"  Brewer,  I.  W.,  Dr.,  pp.  39^41,  63-4,  19-20,  Chaps. 
4,  8,  9,  11,  12,  16,  19. 


166      CONSTRUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

"Sanitary  Relations  of  the  Milk  Supply,"  United  States  Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry  —  Circular  No.  111. 

"  Facts  about  Milk,"  R.  A.  Parsons,  United  States  Farmers'  Bulletin, 
No.  42. 

"Year  Book"  of  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1907,  p. 
184. 

"  How  Insects  Affect  Health  in  Rural  Districts/'  G.  0.  Howard,  United 
States  Farmers'  Bulletin,  No.  155. 

"  Report  of  Secretary  of  Agriculture,"  1910,  pp.  121-5. 

"  Sewage  Di&posal  on  the  Farm,"  Theobald  Smith,  M.D.,  United  States 
Farmers'  Bulletin,  No,  43. 

"  Modern  Conveniences  for  the  Farm  House,"  E.  T.  Wilson,  same,  No. 
270. 

"  Pure  Milk  Necessary  to  Health,"  Address  before  Fortnightly  Club, 
Grand  Forks,  N.  Dak.;  "  Sewage  Disposal  in  relation  to  Typhoid  "Fever," 
Bulletin  of  the  State  Public  Health  Laboratory,  Grand  Forks,  N.  Dak., 
Gustav  F.  Ruediger,  M.D. 

"  Sanitation  and  Water- Supplies,"  "  Cyclopedia  American  Agricul- 
ture," Vol.  I,  Chap.  8. 

"  Sanitation  of  the  Country  House,"  H.  V.  Beashore. 

"Proper  Disposal  of  Sewage  Wastes  in  Rural  Districts,"  Julius  Nel- 
son, Bulletin  No.  166,  New  Jersey  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  June 
27,  1903. 

"  Sanitary  Conditions  in  the  Home  and  on  the  Farm,"  Metcalf,  Bulle- 
tin No.  89,  South  Carolina  Agricultural  Experimental  Station,  1904. 

"Distilled  Water  for  Drinking  Purposes,"  United  States  Farmers' 
Bulletin,  No.  124. 

"Milk,  Butter  and  Cheese  as  Carriers  of  Infectious  Disease,"  V.  A. 
Moore,  "  Year  Book,"  1895,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
1431. 

"  Bacteria  in  Milk,"  L.  A.  Rogers,  "  Year  Book,"  1907,  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  p.  179. 

"Changes  Taking  Place  in  Chickens  in  Cold  Storage,"  Mary  E.  Pen- 
nington,  same,  197. 

"Hygienic  Water  Supplies  for  Farm,"  B.  M.  Bolton,  same,  399. 

REFERENCES  TO  DIVISION  III 

Brewer,  I.  W.,  Dr.    "Rural  Hygiene,"  pp.  51-71. 

Faght.     "  The  American  Rural  School,"  Chap.  14. 

Ruediger,  Gustav,  Dr.  "Medical  Inspection  of  our  School  Children," 
The  University  Bulletin,  N.  Dak.,  November,  1910,  pp.  3-11. 

Dorset,  M.,  M.D.  "  Invisible  Microorganisms/'  United  States  Bureau 
of  Animal  Industry, —  Circular  No.  57. 

Ayers,  L.  P.  "  The  New  Attitude  of  the  School  Towards  the  Health 
of  the  Child,"  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  No.  96. 


KUEAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION       167 

Allen,  W.  H.    "Civics  and  Health,"  Parts  I  and  IV. 
Gulick  and  Ayers.     "  Medical  Inspection  of  Schools." 
Devine,  E.  T.    "  The  Waste  of  Infant  Life,"  The  Survey,  Vol.  XXIII, 
pp.  314-320. 

Fisher,  Irving.    "  Report  on  National  Vitality,"  Chap.  8. 


CHAPTER  XII 

MAKING    FARM    LIFE    MOKE    ATTRACTIVE 

Satisfaction  the  Object. —  The  title  of  this  chapter  sug- 
gests the  motive  of  the  discussion  of  the  "  depopulation  "  of 
rural  districts,  and  the  "back  to  the  farm"  tocsin.  The 
popular  conception  is  that  country  population  is  to  be  saved 
from  absorption  by  the  cities  by  making  farm  life  centripetal 
rather  than  centrifugal  through  increasing  its  inherent  se- 
ductiveness. Make  the  farm  attractive  to  keep  the  people 
from  gravitating  to  the  city  is  the  prescription. 

However  worthy  that  conception  may  be,  it  is  not  the  mo- 
tive of  this  chapter.  The  country  cannot  hope  to  keep  pace 
with  the  city  in  the  adoption  of  the  many  utilities  and  attrac- 
tions which  give  it  charm  and  centralising  power.  Nor  can 
it  hope  to  escape  the  conditions  which  determine  that  rela- 
tively more  and  more  persons  shall  dwell  in  the  city  with  the 
advancement  of  agricultural  production.  Our  purpose  is  to 
indicate,  rather,  how  science  and  invention,  in  their  applica- 
tion to  the  art  of  work  and  living,  may  be  directed  to  the 
improvement  of  rural  life  because  agricultural  inhabitants 
have  a  right  to  the  benefits  of  civilisation. 

The  material  conveniences  and  utilities  of  the  permanent 
population  have  much  to  do  in  producing  satisfaction. 
Drudgery  may  come  from  hours  which  are  too  long,  from 
a  pace  which  is  too  rapid,  and  from  having  to  carry  on  work 
under  unnecessarily  hard  conditions.  To  see  the  heavier  la- 
bour taken  over  by  mechanical  devices  rather  than  being  per- 
formed by  men  or  even  animals  should  be  a  cause  of  thank- 
fulness. 

The  German  sociologist  Simmel  states  that  the  ideal  of 

168 


MAKING  FARM  LIFE  ATTRACTIVE        169 

society  relative  to  the  expenditure  of  human  energy  is  to 
create  machines  that  will  do  all  the  heavy  work  of  the  world. 
If  man  is  capable  of  inventing  mechanical  devices  to  accom- 
plish all  the  hard  work,  men  may  devote  themselves  to 
directing  their  energies.  The  decided  tendencies  toward 
pushing  machinery  into  every  sort  of  work  are  predictive  of 
the  realisation  of  Simmers  ideal.  It  is  emancipating  the 
masses  of  labourers  from  that  which  can  be  but  mere  drudg- 
ery. It  is  hoped  that  farmers  may  cope  with  other  kinds  of 
producers  in  becoming  master  of  things.  Besides  inventions 
of  a  larger  nature  there  are  numerous  conditions  and  utilities 
through  the  adoption  of  which  living  may  be  greatly  advanced. 
These  lessen  hardships,  make  health  and  life  safer,  and  pro- 
mote satisfaction  and  comfort. 

A  comparison  of  urban  and  rural  modes  of  living  shows 
that  the  former  is  vastly  advanced  beyond  the  latter.  City 
people  of  inconsiderable  means  use  conveniences  which  most 
farming  persons  would  regard  as  luxuries,  and  as  being  pos- 
sible only  in  cities.  The  explanation  of  this  is  found  in  the 
traditional  and  narrow  view  of  life  which  the  countryman 
takes.  He  is  tightly  bound  by  custom.  What  was  the  way 
of  his  father  is  good  enough  for  him.  An  investigation  made 
by  the  Northwestern  Agriculturist  illustrates  this  conserva- 
tism. 

"  Letters  were  sent  out  to  3,456  farmers  in  the  Northwest, 
asking  them  several  questions.  When  we  tabulated  the  re- 
plies we  got  some  startling  facts.  We  found  that  less  than 
three  per  cent,  had  modern  lighting  equipment  in  their  homes. 
Fifty  per  cent,  had  wind-mills,  while  ten  and  one-half  per 
cent,  had  water  supply  in  the  house.  That  is  the  difference 
between  the  farmer's  cows  and  their  wives.  The  one  has 
water  pumped  for  them,  the  other  pumps  the  water  them- 
selves." * 

As  in  the  case  of  securing  effective  agricultural  organisa- 

i  Address  of  P.  V.  Collins,  Wisconsin  State  Journal,  October  27,  1911. 


170      CONSTRUCTIVE  RUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

tions  much  educational  effort  of  an  intense  kind  will  be  re- 
quired to  induce  country  populations  to  adopt  newer  and 
advanced  modes  of  living. 

I.    FAKM    BTJTLI>nrGS 

Much  of  the  satisfaction  to  be  derived  from  life  in  the 
country  is  centred  in  farm  buildings.  Most  of  the  woman's 
life  and  a  large  share  of  that  of  man  is  spent  in  the  dwelling. 
A  considerable  portion  of  the  man's  work  and  efficiency  as 
a  producer  is  connected  with  the  barn  and  other  outbuildings. 

Principles  of  Construction. —  1.  There  are  some  general 
principles  applicable  to  the  construction  and  arrangement  of 
farm  buildings.  These  pertain  to  efficiency,  arrangement, 
taste,  comfort,  convenience,  and  health.  A  good  and  proper 
building  is  one  which  secures  the  greatest  efficiency  in  rela- 
tion to  the  given  surroundings  for  the  least  outlay.  Where 
there  are  several  buildings  economy  of  time  and  energy  can 
be  gained  by  arranging  them  in  their  logical  relation  to  each 
other,  and  by  advisably  concentrating  them.  In  some  cases 
concentration  under  one  roof  may  be  found  an  advantage. 
Taste  as  well  as  economy  should  be  applied  in  the  construc- 
tion of  buildings. 

"  There  is  no  abstract  canon  of  good  taste  in  farm  build- 
ings except  that  they  shall  be  perfectly  adapted  to  the  uses 
for  which  they  are  designed  and  shall  bear  no  meaningless 
or  irrelevant  parts  or  ornaments.  Theoretically,  the  cylindri- 
cal stone  silo  is  inharmonious  in  connection  with  farm  barns ; 
but  because  it  serves  a  direct  purpose,  we  accept  it  without 
question.  If  such  a  construction  were  added  merely  '  for 
looks,'  it  would  be  ridiculous." 

Buildings  should  be  constructed  and  fitted  to  yield  the 
largest  satisfaction.  Because  the  health  and  sanity  of  man 
and  beast  are  conditions  of  life,  happiness,  and  prosperity, 
much  effort  should  be  given  to  making  country  life  condi- 
tions sanitary. 


MAKING  FAKM  LIFE  ATTRACTIVE        171 

2.  Farm  buildings  should  be  carefully  planned.  Build- 
ings erected  which  are  not  modern  and  therefore  not  adapted 
to  present  needs  are  a  barrier.  Capital  is  invested  in  them 
and  they  are  not  likely  to  be  torn  down.  They  may  be  too 
small,  inconvenient,  poorly  adapted  to  the  demands  made 
upon  them,  but  they  must  be  kept. 

It  is  essential  that  the  demands  of  present  agriculture  be 
met  in  providing  barns  and  other  buildings  other  than  the 
farm-house.  It  is  too  much  to  expect  that  the  average  man 
can  peer  into  the  future  and  plan  his  buildings  to  meet  com- 
ing changes.  However,  if  he  understands  present  conditions 
he  is  quite  likely  to  be  in  line  with  future  developments.  A 
recent  writer  on  eastern  agricultural  conditions  says: 

"  A  common  measure  of  the  supposed  decline  of  farming 
is  the  fact  that  many  farms  can  now  be  purchased  for  less 
than  the  buildings  cost.  This  statement  of  itself  does  not 
appeal  to  me  as  having  any  special  significance.  A  property 
is  likely  to  sell  for  what  it  is  worth,  and  this  worth  depends 
on  its  effectiveness  as  an  economic  unit  or  enterprise.  Most 
of  the  buildings  on  these  farms  were  erected  a  generation  or 
more  ago,  when  ideas  of  farming  were  radically  different 
from  those  of  the  present  day.  The  coming  business  of  farm- 
ing will  demand  a  wholly  new  type  of  building  in  order  to 
make  the  property  effective,  and  we  must  overcome  our  habit 
of  looking  back  to  the  time  when  the  present  buildings  were 
erected.  Barns  and  other  business  buildings  that  were 
erected  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago  should  owe  the  farm  nothing 
by  this  time."  2 

It  is  often  the  case  that  both  houses  and  barns  are  built 
under  an  emergency.  Unless  possessed  of  ample  means  so 
that  contingencies  may  be  provided  for  the  builder  should 
be  careful  to  design  his  buildings  in  such  a  way  that  they 
may  be  readily  enlarged  as  needs  arise,  economising  money 
at  the  same  time  convenience  is  gained. 

2  Bailey,  "  The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  pp.  25-6. 


172      CONSTKUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 


H.    IMPROVEMENT   OF   THE   UTILITIES   OF    HOME   AND   FARM 

The  utilities  of  home  and  farm  are  important  means  of 
gauging  the  volume  of  the  life  of  the  inhabitants.  In  gen- 
eral, larger  existence  comes  with  the  increase  of  opportunity 
for  leisure  and  meditation,  the  lessening  of  drudgery,  and 
the  establishment  of  conveniences  which  make  for  comfort 
and  health.  All  of  these  things  may  be  called  utilities. 
Their  improvement  is  possible  and  manifestly  desirable. 
Certain  preconditions  to  this  improvement  exist  and  these 
will  be  dealt  with  first. 

Preconditions:  Motor  Power. —  Many  of  the  economies, 
decrease  of  drudgery,  and  increase  of  comfort  and  health  are 
dependent  on  the  installation  of  a  cheap  and  easily  managed 
motor  power.  Some  discussion  of  the  different  forms  of 
motors  is  necessary  to  determine  which  is  most  available  for 
farm  use. 

Steam,  water,  gas,  hot  air,  electricity,  and  wind  constitute 
the  kinds  of  motors  which  are  presented  for  the  farmers' 
selection. 

The  comparative  availability  of  the  different  kinds  of  power 
on  the  farm  is  determined  by  simplicity,  demanding  little 
special  training  for  operation,  and  adaptability  to  the  va- 
rious kinds  of  work  which  is  to  be  done  by  the  motor.  Spe- 
cial circumstances  may  determine  which  will  be  selected  by 
a  given  farmer. 

Wind  and  water  power  might  be  considered  the  most 
available  since  nature  seems  to  offer  them  freely  in  many 
places.  Water  power  may  be  said  to  be  quite  as  expensive 
as  most  fuels,  since  it  requires  expense  in  construction  of 
the  dam  and  in  installation  of  the  initial  machinery.  How- 
ever, after  once  installed  it  is  cheap  and  useable.  If  con- 
verted into  electricity  it  may  be  made  to  do  almost  any  service 
the  farm  requires. 

Wind-mills  are  useable  in  certain  regions.     Through  the 


MAKING  FAEM  LIFE  ATTEACTIYE        173 

use  of  storage  tanks,  or  if  converted  into  electricity  through 
the  use  of  storage  batteries,  the  regularity  of  operation  of 
their  power  is  assured. 

The  development,  storage,  and  utilisation  of  wind  power 
is  being  subjected  to  scientific  investigation  by  physicists. 
It  is  estimated  that  a  cooperative  16-foot  wind-mill  and 
storage  battery  plant  could  be  established  for  $2,027.50. 
This  would  include  a  small  stationary  gasoline  engine  to 
tide  over  periods  of  light  winds,  and  would  supply  about 
fifteen  families  with  light.  A  twelve-foot  mill  plant  could 
be  established  for  about  $600.  This  would  be  sufficient  to 
light  the  house  and  to  furnish  power  for  the  machinery  of 
the  home.3 

The  gas  engine  depending  on  a  producer  is  unavailable 
for  average  farm  purposes  because  gas-producer  plants  are 
not  successful  for  sizes  less  than  25  horsepower,  nor  for  in- 
termittent work.  Besides  the  objection  due  to  their  size  large 
steam  engines  are  too  intricate  and  dangerous  for  common 
use. 

The  hot  air  engine  is  available  only  for  pumping  purposes. 
It  is  built  to  pump  from  150  to  3,500  gallons  per  hour.  Its 
advantages  are  stated  to  consist  in  its  simplicity,  usability  of 
all  sorts  of  fuel,  ease  of  erection,  and  demand  of  unskilled 
attention. 

Electric  motors  are  becoming  more  available  for  farm  pur- 
poses from  year  to  year.  A  dynamo  is  required  to  supply 
the  current  and  the  dynamo  depends  on  some  engine  for 
operation.  Proximity  to  power  stations,  trolley  lines,  or  co- 
operative establishments  reduces  expenditures  and  simplifies 
machinery.  The  power  is  cheap  and  offers  the  advantages 

3  "The  Development,  Storage  and  Utilisation  of  Wind  Power/'  A. 
Hoyt  Taylor,  Ph.D.,  University  of  North  Dakota  Departmental  Bulletin, 
March,  1912.  Mr.  Manikowske  of  Mooreton,  N.  Dak.,  has  taken  out  a 
patent  on  a  storage-battery  charged  by  wind-power.  He  has  applied 
this  power  to  all  the  utilities  about  the  barn  and  house.  See  "  The 
Challenge  of  the  Country"— G.  W.  Fiske,  p.  80. 


174      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

of  being  clean,  safe,  occupying  small  space,  being  instantly 
available,  and  usable  anywbere  with  the  extension  of  power 
lines.  Several  manufacturing  firms  are  now  building  elec- 
tric equipment  for  farm  work.  Besides  the  instances  of  use 
in  the  United  States  cited  in  a  previous  chapter,  large  farms 
in  Germany  use  it  considerably  for  thrashing  and  other  in- 
door work,  and  to  a  limited  extent  for  ploughing. 

The  automobile  traction  motor,  as  we  saw,  has  been  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  farm  life.  It  is  not  only  a  good  draft  and 
carrying  instrument  but  may  be  used  as  a  stationary  engine 
to  drive  machinery  of  the  farm  buildings  or  to  furnish 
power  for  household  purposes.  For  a  jack-of -all-trades  busi- 
ness it  cannot  be  equalled.  But  its  very  ubiquity  may  be 
against  depending  on  it  regularly  for  certain  important  pur- 
poses. A  supplementary  stationary  motor  would  furnish  this 
regular  and  constant  service. 

Improvement  of  House  and  Household  Processes. —  It  is 
not  the  province  of  a  work  of  this  nature  to  attempt  to  give 
the  detailed  description  of  an  up-to-date  yet  modest  farm 
home.  Our  purpose  is  rather  to  justify  the  creation  of  such 
a  home  and  to  indicate  in  a  general  manner  how  attainable 
and  feasible  it  is. 

A  modern  home  in  the  city  may  at  the  same  time  be  mod- 
est in  size  and  price.  Such  a  home  would  have  the  following 
improvements:  a  heating  plant  which  might  be  any  of  the 
varieties  of  hot-air,  steam,  or  hot  water,  or  a  combination  of 
hot  air  and  hot  water;  an  inside  toilet  and  bath  room;  a 
laundry  as  a  separate  and  distinct  room,  however  small;  a 
well  equipped  kitchen  with  neighbouring  pantry  and  ice-box ; 
and  generally  gas  or  electric  lighting.  Such  homes  are 
owned  or  rented  by  families  whose  wealth  and  income  would 
not  compare  favourably  with  those  of  the  average  farmer. 

A  heating  plant  is  desirable  because  it  is  clean  and  there- 
fore sanitary,  regular  in  its  operation,  requires  little  atten- 
tion, heats  all  parts  of  the  house  when  needed  without  addi- 


MAKING  FARM  LIFE  ATTRACTIVE        175 

tional  work,  and  keeps  the  first  floor  comfortable  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  it  is  situated  in  the  basement.  Hot-air  and 
hot-water  systems  are  simple  in  operation  and  easily  taken 
care  of.  Hot  water  and  steam  require  some  attention  to 
prevent  freezing  and  bursting  of  pipes  and  radiators,  but  no 
more  than  in  city  homes.  A  full  concrete  basement  adds  to 
the  warmth,  durability,  and  space  of  the  house,  affording 
space  for  fuel,  and  for  ashes  during  the  winter,  if  desired. 
It  may  also  contain  a  fruit  and  vegetable  cellar,  and  a  laundry, 
when  plenty  of  ventilation  is  provided.  This  is  the  general 
provision  in  very  cold  climates,  but  it  would  probably  prove 
unsanitary  in  more  southern  regions. 

On  bath  room  and  inside  toilet  facilities  depends  much  of 
the  health  and  comfort  of  the  household,  and  more  particu- 
larly the  comfort  and  health  of  the  women  of  the  house. 
Bathing  regularly  during  the  colder  parts  of  the  year  is  a 
lost  art,  at  least  in  many  homes,  yet  it  is  absolutely  requisite 
to  cleanliness  of  person  and  to  physical  efficiency.  The  fact 
that  many  persons  have  grown  old  in  spite  of  its  omission 
does  not  demonstrate  its  uselessness.  Health  and  regularity 
of  habits  are  conditioned  by  the  comfort  and  convenience  of 
toilets.  Much  constipation  with  all  its  attendant  and  conse- 
quent complications  arises  out  of  irregularity  of  habit  which 
is  brought  on  by  neglect.  And  the  neglect  arises  from  out- 
door, exposed,  and  often  filthy  toilet  conditions. 

The  bath  is  made  possible  by  the  establishment  of  motor 
power.  In  case  the  earth  is  too  flat  for  drainage  purposes 
the  bath  and  toilet  may  be  drained  into  a  flush  tank  which 
holds  the  sewerage  during  twenty-four  hours.  This  is 
drained  automatically  into  the  soil  previously  prepared  for 
oxygenation  and  sterilisation.  A  sanitary  chemical  toilet  is 
now  put  upon  the  market  and  is  installed  in  many  small  rural 
hotels.  Its  sanitation  is  only  dependent  on  attention  to  clean- 
ing and  supplying  the  chemicals.  With  the  establishment 
and  drainage  of  the  bath  this  would  be  superfluous. 


176       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

A  separate  laundry  is  very  desirable.  It  is  more  efficient 
because  it  is  specially  constructed  and  equipped  for  its  pur- 
pose. It  economises  the  space  and  work  of  other  rooms  by 
leaving  them  unobstructed  with  washing  appliances.  It  is 
more  sanitary  and  healthful  because  it  takes  care  of  the  fumes 
and  waste  apart  from  the  remainder  of  the  house.  Its  con- 
struction and  provision  is  no  more  difficult  than  that  of  any 
other  room  or  farm  improvement 

The  well  planned  kitchen,  with  its  pantry  adjoining,  or 
with  pantry  shelves  located  in  it,  and  with  its  ice-box  in  a 
neighbouring  vestibule  or  specially  prepared  room,  is  a  la- 
bour- and  mind-saver  to  the  housewife,  Scientific  manage- 
ment, which  is  now  being  applied  to  labour,  is  scientific 
because  it  makes  the  conditions  under  which  the  work  is  per- 
formed such  that  steps  and  movements  are  reduced  to  their 
minimum,  and  the  load  is  adjusted  to  the  bearer.  If  any- 
where in  the  world  this  principle  should  be  applied  to  the 
kitchen.  The  articles  and  utensils  to  be  used  many  times  a 
day  should  be  so  placed  relative  to  the  user  and  to  each  other 
as  to  call  forth  the  fewest  movements,  and  the  least  effort. 

Sanitation  in  the  care  of  foods  is  likewise  highly  desirable 
in  equipping  the  kitchen.  The  ice-chest  is  extremely  serv- 
iceable in  accomplishing  this  end. 

A  lighting  system,  either  gas  or  electricity,  is  now  available 
for  farm  homes.  Either  gasoline  or  acetylene  plants  may  be 
constructed  at  reasonable  expense  and  the  home  may  be  fur- 
nished with  as  good  lights  as  are  city  homes.  In  fact  many 
city  homes  establish  private  plants  because  they  secure  better 
and  more  economical  lights  than  the  public  systems  give. 
The  care  of  lamps,  danger  from  explosion,  inconvenience  of 
carrying  them  from  room  to  room  as  well  as  of  lighting,  the 
unhealthf ul  odours  they  create,  together  with  a  poorer  qual- 
ity of  light,  are  avoided  by  installing  a  lighting  system.  In 
case  there  is  a  motor  electric  lights  may  be  easily  installed 
and  possess  obvious  advantages. 


MAKING  FARM  LIFE  ATTRACTIVE       177 

Certain  kitchen  improvements  and  devices  are  to  be  viewed 
as  necessities  rather  than  incidents  or  luxuries.  A  task  is 
done  inefficiently  and  uneconomically  when  it  unnecessarily 
depletes  the  worker.  The  farm  woman's  life  is  hard  enough 
at  best.  There  is  enormous  work  to  be  done.  Labour-saving 
devices  should  be  installed  wherever  possible. 

With  a  motor  plant  to  furnish  power  the  water  will  be 
carried  to  its  place  of  use  and  slops  disposed  of  by  means  of 
pipes ;  washing  machines,  wringers,  churns,  sewing  machines, 
and  separators  will  be  run  by  bands  connected  with  the  source 
of  power;  electricity  and  gas  may  even  be  used  to  cook  and 
iron  with. 

The  processes  of  housekeeping  should  be  based  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  household  economics.  Woman's  sphere  in  rural  life 
would  be  vastly  improved  by  training  women  in  these  prin- 
ciples. Not  only  the  ease  of  performance  but  the  satisfaction 
derived  in  conducting  the  household  along  scientifically  ef- 
fective lines  would  be  increased.  Above  all,  since  food  is 
the  foundation  and  support  of  life  the  scientific  preparation 
and  preservation  of  foods  would  conduce  much  to  their  effi- 
ciency in  building  up  working  ability.  Knowledge  of  fur- 
nishings for  the  house  in  order  that  good  taste  and  economy 
should  be  promoted  would  be  a  valuable  adjunct.  The  appli- 
cation of  good  sense  in  the  selection  of  the  finish  and  furni- 
ture of  the  house  would  serve  to  make  housekeeping  less  bur- 
densome. What  some  one  speaks  of  as  the  elimination  of 
"  dust  lines  "  is  an  example  of  this.  If  all  the  meaningless 
mouldings  and  panels,  curved  mop-board,  and  so  on,  were 
excluded  the  work  of  dusting  would  be  immensely  reduced. 

House-cleaning  is  now  being  done  by  machinery  in  an 
easier  and  more  sanitary  manner  than  was  possible  by  the  use 
of  broom  and  dustpan.  The  suction  or  vacuum  cleaner  run 
by  motor  power  draws  the  dust  out  of  floor,  carpets,  rugs,  and 
from  walls  without  scattering  germ-laden  dust  in  the  air  to 


ITS       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

pollute  and  infect  the  throat  and  lungs.  Hand-power  vacuum 
cleaners  of  different  designs  and  prices  are  giving  large  sat- 
isfaction. 

Improvement  of  Out-of-Door  Work. —  We  have  considered 
this  feature  of  farm  life  from  the  business  side.  Now  we 
want  to  view  it  in  its  relation  to  the  intensification  of  satis- 
faction and  the  reduction  of  the  element  of  superfluous  drudg- 
ery, because  this  obstructs  enjoyment  and  creates  aversion 
to  farming.  Drudgery  of  farm  life  is  commonly  given  as  a 
motive  for  rural  emigration.  While  we  are  not  advocating 
the  adoption  of  agricultural  improvements  merely  to  lessen 
this  emigration,  it  is  worth  considering  as  a  partial  key  to 
making  rural  advance.  It  at  least  reveals  one  sore  spot  in 
country  economy. 

No  doubt  the  whole  matter  of  improving  the  business  of 
farming  as  a  business  policy  could  be  viewed  on  the  other 
side  as  a  splendid  means  of  securing  satisfaction  in  the  pur- 
suit. Accurate  records  and  accounts  must  yield  the  joy 
of  assurance  to  the  manager  that  an  exact  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  of  a  business  always  produces.  Science  carried 
out  in  soil  fertilisation,  in  plant  and  animal  breeding  and  in 
their  culture  must  yield  a  strong  intellectual  stimulus  and 
satisfy  the  psychic  cravings  and  ideals.  And  in  like  manner 
there  is  a  joy  which  arises  in  executing  work  through  me- 
chanical devices  which  utilise  the  great  forces  of  nature  and 
perform  with  exactness  and  speed  the  allotted  task.  But  our 
particular  note  here  is  that  the  adoption  of  artificial  con- 
trivances of  an  advanced  but  approved  type  enhances  the  life 
of  the  farmer  by  reducing  the  expenditure  of  human  energy. 

The  following  particulars  will  serve  to  indicate  some  ways 
in  which  machinery  may  lighten  the  farmer's  tasks.  Riding 
devices  propelled  by  horses  or  motors  exist  for  ploughing, 
harrowing,  disking,  seeding,  harvesting,  and  cultivating. 
Only  small  farming  or  trucking,  where  very  intensive  culti- 
vation is  carried  on;  demands  much  walking  and  hand  labour 


MAKING  FAKM  LIFE  ATTRACTIVE        179 

in  producing  crops.  Pitching  is  done  by  hay  loaders  and 
forks  worked  by  power.  Indoor  work  such  as  shelling,  fan- 
ning, separating  milk,  pumping  water,  and  chopping  feed 
may  be  done  by  motor  attachments  as  we  have  seen.  Thresh- 
ing is  carried  on  by  machinery  wholly  and  is  becoming  a  less 
dusty  task  through  the  application  of  self-feeders,  bundle  car- 
riers, automatic  measures,  and  pneumatic  stackers.  Pitching 
bundles  in  the  field,  like  shocking  bundles  in  harvesting,  seem 
open  for  inventions.  Shovelling  grain  entails  much  hard 
labour  which  it  seems  might  be  partly  obviated.  If  granaries 
were  constructed  with  an  elevated  drive  for  dropping  grain 
into  the  bins,  and  if  the  floors  of  the  latter  were  raised  suffi- 
ciently to  permit  chutes  carrying  the  grain  into  wagons,  grav- 
ity would  do  the  work. 

Milking  may  be  done  by  means  of  pneumatic  milkers. 
These  are  said  to  operate  satisfactorily  but  are  most  available 
where  there  are  several  cows  to  milk.  Cutting  corn  for  the 
shock  by  hand  is  obviated  by  the  corn  or  fodder  cutter.  Much 
of  the  arduousness  of  choring  could  be  reduced  by  a  happy 
arrangement  of  the  barn  and  the  grouping  of  outbuildings 
so  as  to  save  steps  and  handling  feeding  material. 

Farming  might  almost  become  a  sedentary  occupation  with 
the  use  of  machinery.  By  its  intensive  employment  farm 
life  would  be  made  more  enjoyable  for  the  worker  and  the 
growing  boys  and  girls  would  have  proper  time  for  recrea- 
tion and  sports. 

Some  improvement  of  life  by  the  regulation  of  labour  is 
possible.  A  distribution  of  farm  industry  over  the  whole 
of  the  year,  thus  preventing  a  seasonal  rush,  is  desirable. 
This  is  especially  true  of  the  more  northern  climates.  Seed- 
ing, harvesting,  and  threshing  times  are  periods  of  great  la- 
bour stress.  The  days  are  lengthened  and  the  pace  is  likely 
to  be  rapid.  With  a  one-crop  system  this  is  likely  to  be  in- 
evitable because  the  areas  cultivated  must  be  large  and  both 
safety  and  completion  demand  concentration  of  labour  energy 


180      CONSTRUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY. 

into  a  very  few  days  or  weeks.  The  natural  corrective  for 
this  is  found  in  a  diversification  in  farm  industry,  the  carry- 
ing on  of  animal  and  poultry  culture,  of  dairying,  and  of  plant 
and  grain  culture ;  and  the  adoption  of  several  crops  maturing, 
and  requiring  to  be  seeded  at  different  times. 

This  diversification  would  have  to  he  exercised  with  cau- 
tion, however,  for  to  carry  it  to  great  lengths  would  demand 
such  a  large  investment  in  numerous  kinds  of  machinery 
that  each  would  not  be  used  enough  to  justify  the  absorption 
of  the  capital. 

HI.    IMPROVEMENT   OF   GROUNDS 

Justification. —  Several  motives  exist  for  giving  attention 
to  the  home  grounds.  First,  there  is  the  individual  satisfac- 
tion which  arises  from  a  love  of  the  beautiful  and  pride  in 
comely  surroundings.  Much  discontent  with  farm  life  is 
produced  by  unattractive  and  barren  features  of  the  home- 
stead and  landscape.  This  is  particularly  true  where  na- 
ture is  niggardly  in  supplying  variety.  Level  plains  with- 
out trees  are  apt  to  seem  monotonous  and  dreary,  especially 
in  the  long  winters  of  northern  regions. 

Second,  a  satisfaction  in  the  appearance  of  the  countryside 
as  a  whole,  and  even  a  sense  of  duty  in  improving  the  land- 
scape view,  are  involved.  "It  is  everybody's  concern  how 
the  neighbourhood  looks.  One  slovenly  place  is  a  blot  on 
the  neighbourhood.  The  scenery  is  one  of  the  assets  of  a 
country;  and  the  appraisal  of  this  asset  is  bound  to  increase 
with  time,  because  the  educated  mind  is  always  sensitive  to 
its  surroundings.  Any  person  who  needlessly  or  ignorantly 
despoils  the  scenery  is  guilty  of  an  offence  to  the  community, 
whether  so  recognised  by  law  or  not."  4 

As  in  the  city,  one  unkempt  home  or  farm  mars  the  beauty 
of  the  whole.  It  is  desirable  that  there  shall  come  to  be  a 

*  Farmers'  Bulletin,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  No.  185. 


MAKING  FAKM  LITE  ATTRACTIVE        181 

public  conscience  which  will  make  it  an  offence  to  offend  a 
neighbour's  eye  as  it  is  now  to  offend  his  purse. 

Third,  protection  is  afforded  by  certain  kinds  of  beatifica- 
tion and  improvement.  This  is  a  large  element  where  na- 
ture has  made  no  provisions.  Where  neither  elevation  nor 
forests  occur  and  storms  of  wind  and  cold  sweep  over  the 
levels,  protective  barriers  become  almost  a  necessity.  The 
blizzard,  the  sweeping  dust,  snow,  and  rain,  the  venom  of 
cold  and  the  torridity  of  sun  all  may  be  tempered  by  the  in- 
tervention of  artifice. 

Agencies. —  The  agencies  and  methods  of  securing  sesthetic 
results  in  the  country  must  depend  on  the  character  of  the 
region,  climatic  conditions,  interest,  ability,  and  means  of 
the  individual  proprietor,  and  the  cooperation  and  ideals  of 
the  community.  Rural  art  is  not  only  negative,  consisting 
in  the  removal  of  offensive  objects ;  but  positive  and  construc- 
tive, consisting  in  laying  out  highways,  farms,  fields,  and 
home  grounds  in  such  a  manner  as  to  appeal  to  the  eye. 

In  the  "  Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture  "  is  presented 
contrasting  views  of  countryside  landscapes.  In  one,  no 
attention  has  been  paid  to  looks.  Fields  are  irregular  and 
farms  without  perspective.  Fences  and  buildings  are  slat- 
ternly, roadsides  unkempt,  and  natural  attractions  undevel- 
oped or  marred.  In  the  other  order,  proportion,  chaste  clean- 
liness, and  regard  for  beauty  prevail.  Fields  are  regular 
and  ordered  relative  to  each  other.  Eoads,  fences,  and  build- 
ings are  well  kept.  Attention  has  been  paid  to  directing  the 
highways  in  attractive  surroundings.  Natural  objects  are 
given  a  chance  to  display  themselves.  The  contrast  is  strik- 
ing and  impresses  the  spectator  with  the  value  of  improving 
the  larger  aspect  of  rural  regions. 

The  chief  methods  of  securing  aesthetic  ends  in  the  con- 
struction of  home  grounds  is  such  an  arrangement  of  drives, 
trees,  shrubs,  and  lawns  as  to  realise  satisfaction  and  protec- 
tion. Even  if  the  grounds  are  relatively  small  these  results 


182      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

i  A  separate  laundry  is  very  desirable.  It  is  more  efficient 
\because  it  is  specially  constructed  and  equipped  for  its  pur- 
may  be  secured  by  careful  planning.  In  the  northern  re- 
gions, where  grass  and  leaves  are  in  retirement  during  the 
larger  part  of  the  year,  it  is  desirable  to  set  out  with  other 
trees  such  conifers  as  the  Scotch  pine,  whose  annual  growth 
equals  that  of  box  or  green  oak.5  In  summer  the  effect 
is  one  of  contrast  to  the  other  trees  and  growing  plants ;  in 
winter  by  retaining  their  leaves  they  carry  with  them  an 
expression  of  life  and  warmth,  and  when  draped  in  snow 
and  ice  the  long  graceful  branches  of  pines  and  spruces  lend 
a  decided  charm.  The  massing  of  shrubbery  of  several  differ- 
ent varieties  secures  contrast  in  verdure  and  colour,  suggests 
protection  and  warmth,  or  covers  some  building  or  unde- 
sirable effect  of  landscape.  The  smooth,  thickly  grassed  lawn 
is  always  a  delight  By  the  addition  of  shrubs  and  trees, 
providing  its  area  is  not  too  restricted,  its  attractive  features 
are  enhanced. 

•  See  Circular  145  of  the  Forest  Service,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr. 

REFERENCES 

Bailey.    «  The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  pp.  25-26. 

"  farm  Buildings  and  Fences,"  "  Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture," 
VoL  I,  pp.  231  ff. 

"  Rural  Art,"  Ibid.,  Chap.  9. 

"Industrial  Alcohol:  Uses  and  Statistics,*  H.  W.  Wiley.  Farmers' 
BuWe/in,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  No.  269. 

"The  Use  of  Alcohol  and  Gasoline  in  Farm  Engines,"  C.  E.  Locke  and 
&  M.  Woodward.  Farmers'  Bulletin,  No.  277. 

"Industrial  Alcohol:  Sources  and  Manufacture,"  H.  W.  Wiley. 
Farmer**  Bulletin,  No.  268. 

"Practical  Suggestions  for  Farm  Buildings,"  George  G.  HilL  Form- 
er** Bulletin,  No.  126. 

"Modern  Conveniences  for  the  Farm  Home,"  Ehniria  T.  Wilson. 
Farmer*  Bulletin,  No.  270. 

"The  Meteoric  Rise  of  the  Automobile  Industry,"  KM.  West  Amer- 
ica* Review  of  Review*,  November,  1910,  pp.  581-592. 

"  Forest  Planting  on  the  Northern  Prairies,"  James  M.  Fetherolf,  U. 
S.  Dept  of  Agriculture,  Forest  Service  Circular  No.  145. 


MAKIXG  FARM  LITE  ATTRACTIVE        183 

"  Beautifying  the  Home  Grounds,"  L.  C.  Corbett.  Farmers*  Bulletin, 
No.  185,  and  "  The  Lawn,"  same,  No.  248. 

"  The  Development,  Storage  and  Utilisation  of  Wind  Power,"  A.  Hoyt 
Taylor,  PhJ>.,  Univ.  N.  Dak.  Departmental  Bulletin.  March,  1912. 

"Plants  as  a  Factor  in  Home  Adornment,"  J.  C.  Corbitt.  Reprint 
from  "  Year  Book  "  of  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  1902. 

"Lawns  and  Lawn-making,"  F.  Lamson.  Scribner,  Reprint  from 
"  Year  Book  *»  of  Dept.  of  Agriculture  for  1897. 

"  The  House,"  Vol.  I  of  the  "  Library  of  Home  Economics  " —  chiefly 
for  city  dwellers  of  large  means.  Chicago. 

Parloa,  Maria,    "Home  Economics."     Century  Co. 

"  New  Life  on  the  Farm,"  C.  M.  Hosge,  Outlook,  April  16,  1906,  p. 
841. 

"  Farm  Boy  Who  Went  Back,"  H.  Card.    World's  Work,  20:13445-9. 

"Human  Factor  in  Rural  Life,"  H.  Plunkett.     Outlook,  94:354-9. 

*  Making  Country  Life  Interesting."    Ind.  68:59-60. 

"New  Farming  Generation."     Ind.  68:276-7. 

"  New  Life  on  the  Farm,"  C.  M.  Harger.     Outlook,  94:841-4. 

"  Use  of  Electricity  in  the  Country,"  A.  C.  Lant.     Colliers,  45 :24. 

"What  the  Motor  Vehicle  is  Doing  for  the  Farmer,"  W.  Longford. 
Sci.  J.m.,  102:50-1.  Ibid.,  American  Homes,  7:267-9. 


CHAPTEE  XIII 

SOCIALISATION    OF    COUNTBY   LIFE 

Meaning  of  Socialisation. —  Socialisation  commonly  refers 
to  the  historical  process  of  developing  in  individuals  the 
associational  ability.  This  does  not  mean  that  man  ever  was 
inherently  individualistic  in  his  constitution.  Man  as  man 
probably  never  was  unsocial,  since  he  was  evolved  from  ani- 
mals below  him  which  were  social. 

It  does  mean  that,  viewing  society  as  a  developing  organ- 
isation, becoming  more  and  more  complex  in  its  mechanism 
and  requirements,  man  has  had  to  be  trained  and  dis- 
ciplined by  an  age-long  process  into  fitness  to  work  in  and 
through  this  mechanism.  It  involves  the  spirit  of  response, 
the  power  of  sympathetic  cooperation,  and  an  intellectual 
and  technical  capacity  to  stand  the  strain  of  responsibility. 

The  difference  between  primitive  and  civilised  man  lies  less 
in  the  difference  in  their  original  inherent  physical  and 
psychical  capacity  than  in  the  fact  that  the  modern  man  has 
the  advantage  of  an  improved  social  mechanism  which  offers 
opportunities  and  possesses  great  elasticity  in  making  re- 
sponse. Growing  up  in  the  midst  of  a  more  highly  de- 
veloped social  medium,  and  surrounded  by  its  richer  atmos- 
phere, he  is  enabled  consequently  to  take  deeper  draughts 
of  wisdom  and  experience. 

Socialisation  as  applied  to  objects  and  institutions  consists 
in  reconstructing  them  and  making  them  amenable  to  the 
uses  society  demands.  Institutions  may  become  so  conserva- 
tive that  they  stand  still.  They  may  come  to  act  as  veritable 
obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  other  social  institutions  and 
of  life.  Thus  creeds  and  beliefs,  churches  and  schools,  have 

184 


SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTRY  LIFE       185 

to  be  considered  with  reference  to  the  changed  epoch  and  new 
demands,  and  reconstructed  to  meet  the  new  conditions. 

The  meaning  remains  essentially  the  same  when  we  refer 
to  the  socialisation  of  a  community.  If  a  neighbourhood  is  in 
question  it  may  be  found  to  be  backward.  Some  of  its  insti- 
tutions and  modes  of  life  may  require  reconstruction  or  elim- 
ination. Or  it  may  need  socialisation  because  it  lacks  alto- 
gether one  or  more  institutions  or  modes  of  life  which  have 
come  to  be  regarded  as  in  some  way  necessary  to  the  age  and 
to  completer  living. 

The  point  of  view  lies  back  of  institutions  and  processes. 
Things  remain  as  they  are  because  the  views  of  people  who 
maintain  them  do  not  grow.  The  transformation  of  insti- 
tutions, beliefs,  modes  of  doing  things,  and  customs  involves 
the  preparatory  work  of  recasting  and  revolutionising  the 
ideas  of  men  relative  to  those  things.  The  socialisation  of 
a  community  involves  revolutionising  its  citizens'  minds  rel- 
ative to  its  institutions  and  utilities.  They  must  be  so 
changed  in  their  views  that  they  will  not  only  permit  but 
demand  that  modern  needs  shall  be  met  by  this  work  of 
reconstructic^n. 

We  have  alre'ady  treated  certain  phases  of  the  socialisation 
of  rural  life.  We  have  considered  socialisation  in  pointing 
out  the  improvements  which  are  necessary  in  the  material 
and  business  processes  of  farming  so  that  they  shall  be  ade- 
quate to  the  demands  of  this  age;  in  denoting  desirable  im- 
provements of  the  house,  the  buildings,  and  the  grounds ;  in 
treating  the  application  of  labour  saving  devices  to  the  work 
of  farming;  and  in  indicating  the  demands  which  a  whole- 
some rural  life  must  make  on  the  size  of  the  farm,  the  con- 
dition of  ownership  or  tenancy,  and  the  status  of  labourers. 
Our  present  undertaking  requires  a  similar  consideration  of 
the  conditions  and  factors  which  are  directly  bound  up  with 
associational  matters. 

The  Fact  of  Backwardness. —  1.  General  recognition  of  so- 


186      CONSTKUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

cial  backwardness  of  country.  Whether  or  not  rural  social 
life  is  barren  over  and  above  the  emptiness  of  the  city,  the 
consensus  of  opinion  lies  in  that  direction.  That  this  con- 
tention is  not  entirely  empty  may  be  concluded  by  the  testi- 
mony of  people  either  closely  acquainted  with  farm  life  or  of 
those  actually  living  on  farms. 

"  In  a  recent  study  of  life  in  the  country  and  small  towns, 
one  of  the  striking  conditions  brought  out  was  the  lack  of 
sufficient  social  life.  Particularly  significant  is  the  fact  that 
this  complaint  came,  not  from  outsiders — chance  visitors  or 
professional  investigators ;  it  was  the  direct  testimony  of  the 
men  and  women  living  on  the  farms  and  in  the  small  towns. 
The  same  statement  came  from  people  living  in  all  parts  of 
the  Union — from  New  England  districts,  where  there  are 
many  old  village  communities  and  farms  comparatively  close 
to  one  another,  as  well  as  from  the  more  isolated  Southern 
plantations  and  Western  ranches."  * 

2.  The  cityward  tendency.     The  "  drift  to  the  city  "  con- 
stitutes a  fact  in  evidence  of  country  social  hunger.     While 
we  must  remember  that  the  fundamental  forces  or  conditions 
which  transfer  populations  from  country  to  city  are  of  an 
economic  nature,  yet  there  is  a  large  conscious  element  in 
the  shape  of  desires  and  cravings  after  the  pleasures  and 
satisfactions  which  are  supposed  to  arise  from  the  social 
solidarity  and  associational  opportunities  offered  in  urban 
aggregations. 

3.  Social  and  cultural  dearth.     A  meeting  in  the  corn- 
belt  was  called  to  discuss  the  condition  of  country  life  of  the 
region.     "  The  common  testimony  was  that  there  was  noth- 
ing wrong  with  the  region.     The  farmers  were  prosperous, 
owned  automobiles  and  good  turnouts,  had  money  in  the  bank 
and  were  bank  directors ;  land  was  considered  a  good  invest- 
ment; farmers  were  able  to  move  to  town  at  fifty  years  of 
age." 

i "  Neighbourhood  Entertainments/'  Stern,  p.  ix. 


SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTEY  LIFE       187 

Being  asked  why  they  desired  to  move  to  town,  the  answer 
was,  "  to  secure  good  school  facilities,  to  escape  bad  roads 
and  isolation,  to  have  church  privileges  and  to  be  able  to 
enjoy  social  advantages.  In  other  words,  the  country  life 
of  the  region  was  successful  only  on  its  business  side,  and  a 
satisfying  rural  society  had  not  developed.  The  town  was 
a  centre  of  interest.  The  country  was  not  sufficient  unto 
itself  as  a  permanent  place  of  abode."  2 

From  replies  to  questionnaires  sent  to  college  students  in 
the  East  and  in,£he  West  is  found  corroborative  evidences  of 
the  statement  that  country  life  is  considered  barren  by  those 
who  are  turning  from  it  to  fit  themselves  for  another 
sphere. 

A  comparative  survey  or  exhibit  of  the  social  possibilities 
and  resources  of  a  country  and  a  city  district  would  further 
the  opinion.  It  would  be  discovered  that  the  rural  district 
is  deficient  in  buildings  and  institutions  which  are  the  means 
of  promoting  social  intercourse;  and  that  separation  of  fam- 
ilies from  each  other  and  the  difficulties  encountered  in  getting 
together  are  of  a  nature  to  prevent  frequent  assemblies. 

The  difficulties  of  rural  assemblage  is  illustrated  by  an  in-  I 
cident  which  occurred  in  a  northern  region.  A  new  school 
building  was  to  be  dedicated.  Three  attempts  were  made. 
Local  circumstances  cancelled  that  in  October,  a  blizzard,  that 
in  February,  and  a  furious  wind,  rain,  and  hail  storm  nearly 
spoiled  the  final  attempt  in  May.  Only  a  few  farmers  could 
get  in  to  the  meeting.  When  the  programme  was  over  peo- 
ple were  heard  to  exclaim,  "  Thank  goodness,  it  is  over  at 
last !  "  That  community  will  probably  not  undertake  an- 
other such  event  for  years. 

4.  Source  of  rural  social  backwardness.  There  is  no  sci- 
entific foundation  for  the  inclination  to  regard  the  farmer 
as  a  different  sort  of  being  from  the  urbanite.  If,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  primitive  man  is  essentially  like  civilised  man 

2  Bailey,  "  The  Training  of  Farmers,"  pp.  15-16. 


188       CONSTRUCTIVE  EUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

in  mental  structure,  it  is  beyond  belief  that  farmers  should 
be  fundamentally  dissimilar  to  men  of  other  occupations  and 
conditions  of  life  in  that  respect.  Ethnologists  explain  the 
apparent  difference  in  the  abilities  of  the  former  by  the  dis- 
similarities in  their  cultural  conditions.  In  like  manner  we 
must  believe  that  rural  conditions  stamp  upon  the  agricul- 
turist one  characteristic  impress,  while  those  of  the  city  im- 
print upon  the  city  dweller  another. 

There  is  a  social  heredity  in  rural  life  which  helps  explain 
his  social  aloofness  and  backwardness.  Every  occupation 
has  certain  modes  of  reaction  which  are  characteristic  of  its 
votaries.  A  trade  group  has  certain  terms,  phrases,  ideas 
about  the  trade  and  about  its  technical  processes  and  instru- 
ments which  are  its  peculiar  possession.  Its  members  have 
a  stock  of  these  items  on  hand  which  they  pass  down  from 
generation  to  generation.  If  the  group  lives  apart  from 
other  groups  it  is  also  likely  to  develop  certain  beliefs,  tradi- 
tions, customs,  ways  of  regarding  life  and  nature,  and  views 
about  social  matters  which  are  somewhat  peculiar  to  itself. 
The  conditions  imposed  upon  it  and  under  which  it  lives  ac- 
count for  these  characteristics. 

In  like  manner  the  aloofness  of  the  farmer  from  other 
occupational  groups  and  from  other  farmers  predisposes  him 
to  depend  on  himself  for  passing  the  time,  and  to  an  absence 
of  a  strong  social  hunger.  Moreover  the  absence  of  meeting 
places  and  of  associational  helps  in  the  way  of  organisations 
places  a  premium  on  his  dependence  on  self  and  family  for 
enjoyment  and  entertainment. 

Desirability  of  Associational  Life. —  We  might  assume, 
without  discussion,  that  in  the  country  associational  life  is 
highly  desirable.  The  infrequent  unsocial  individual,  and 
the  intellectually  self-centred  and  independent  person,  the 
product  of  years  of  cultivation  and  education,  are  about  the 
only  ones  who  might  dispute  it. 

Associational  life  which  satisfies  the  craving  for  the  pres- 


SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTRY  LIFE       189 

ence  of  others  and  of  intercourse  with  them  is  useful  to  the 
individual  and  to  the  community. 

First,  it  is  desirable  in  itself.  It  quenches  a  social  thirst 
and  hunger  which  are  as  genuine  and  at  times  almost  as 
imperative  as  physical  thirst  and  hunger.  As  water  and 
food  not  only  satisfy  the  physical  craving  but  build  up  the 
physical  organism  and  replenish  its  vitality,  so  friendly  in- 
tercourse furnishes  a  delight  and  satisfaction  which  are 
hardly  surpassed  by  other  satisfactions.  In  doing  so  they 
are  creative  of  personality  and  of  a  larger  and  more  whole- 
some life.  Civilisation  consists  in  increased  wants  and  their 
satisfaction.  It  is  in  essence  an  expansion  of  the  funda- 
mental want  of  mere  existence  by  differentiating  that  want 
and  multiplying  it  as  other  wants. 

Second,  it  is  desirable  in  that  it  serves  as  a  means  of  secur- 
ing other  ends. 

(a)  By  means  of  association  cooperative  activities  are  pro- 
moted.    A  coming  together  for  purposes  of  planning,  dis- 
cussion, and  organisation  is  found  to  be  quite  necessary.     The 
greatest  industrial  and  commercial  organisations  of  our  time 
are  promoted  by  a  meeting  together  of  interested  parties  for 
advice  and  formulation.     Lesser  associations  and  organisa- 
tions best  exist  and  prosper  where  people  meet  from  time  to 
time  to  talk  things  over.     They  generate  the  initiative  and 
personal  interest  as  well  as  the  understanding  which  nourish 
and  promote  them. 

(b)  By  means  of  associational  intercourse  the  cultural 
process  is  expanded  and  intensified.     Contact  between  peo- 
ples has  always  been  found  necessary  to  acculturation.     Pro- 
vincialism is  broken  down  by  migration  and  social  mixture. 
Prejudices  are  dissipated.     Ideas  are  multiplied  and  made 
to  do  service  for  many  as  against  the  few.     What  contact  is 
between  peoples  intermingling  is  between  individuals  of  a 
neighbourhood.     Suggestions   take  root   and   grow.     Better 
ways  of  thinking  and  acting  come  to  light.     The  brighter 


190      CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

minds  lead  and  educate  the  more  backward.     Something  of 
the  elevation  of  larger  views  becomes  the  heritage  of  all. 

"  When  a  district  ceases  to  be  a  mere  collection  of  house- 
holders and  rises  to  the  dignity  of  a  community  with  com- 
mon interests  and  common  aspirations,  it  becomes  alive ;  and 
the  (  monotony '  of  country  life  becomes  largely  a  thing  of 
the  past.  One  achievement  fosters  another,  and  unexpected 
potentialities  are  awaked.  We  need  the  stimulation  of  our 
kind  for  our  own  better  development.  There  is  a  species 
of  provincialism  and  a  lack  of  varied  interest  in  city  as  well 
as  in  country  life ;  but  it  lies  with  the  community  in  either 
place  to  determine  whether  such  conditions  shall  remain."  3 
.  (c)  Association  promotes  recreation.  Recreation  is,  as 
its  name  denotes,  a  renewal  of  life.  Isolated  persons  have 
a  tendency  to  grow  old  young  and  to  lose  their  youthful  sport- 
ing tendencies.  So  long  as  people  can  play  at  something, 
or  can  feel  a  freshness  and  virility  return  by  means  of  cer- 
tain activities,  they  remain  youthful  and  vital.  Eural  life 
stands  in  need  of  recreation.  It  needs  to  learn  how  to  play, 
how  to  keep  playing  for  the  sake  of  play,  how  to  get  rid  of 
loneliness  and  weariness  by  games  and  amusements.  The 
annual  circus-  at  the  county  seat,  the  yearly  fair,  the  funeral, 
and  the  occasional  church  service  are  not  enough.  The 
weekly  occasion  is  in  demand  where  the  play  instincts  may 
be  set  at  work  to  orderly  riot  and  where  fun  and  mirth  may 
abound. 

Especially  for  country  children  organised  play  is  needed. 
The  playground  movement  has  had  an  immense  growth  in 
the  cities  during  the  past  few  years.  It  means  organised  and 
directed  play  activities.  Let  us  notice  the  deep  nature  and 
demand  which  exists  for  play. 

Historically,  play  of  the  associated  sort  is  older  than  hu- 
manity.    Animals  play.     The  young  members  of  a  given 
kind  engage  in  movements  in  their  play  together  which  an- 
s  Stern,  "Neighbourhood  Entertainments,"  p.  26. 


SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTKY  LIFE       191 

ticipate  activities  of  later  life.  They  are,  therefore,  both 
imitations  of  the  actual  life  movements  of  the  older  animals 
and  a  preparation  for  engaging  in  those  life  operations  later 
on. 

The  physical  effects  of  play  are  marked.  It  is  almost  a 
necessity  to  growth.  Especially  a  symmetrical  development 
of  the  body  is  secured  by  games  which  put  the  various  parts 
into  use.  It  is  said  that  the  Jews  of  East  End  London  are 
three  inches  shorter  than  the  wealthy  members  of  the  race 
of  that  city.  Much  of  this  difference  is  thought  to  be  due 
to  an  absence  of  opportunity  to  play  and  to  engage  in  games 
on  the  part  of  the  poor.  In  similar  manner  the  slum  popula- 
tion of  Glasgow  is  four  inches  shorter  than  the  Scotch  of 
country  regions. 

Mentally,  organised  play  is  valuable.  The  power  of  imi- 
tation is  promoted.  The  quality  of  alertness  to  what  is  tak- 
ing place  and  of  being  ready  to  anticipate  it  is  developed. 
Foresight  is  thus  cultivated,  as  also  by  planning  to  overcome 
the  other  contestants.  A  comprehension  of  plans  and  minutiae 
of  games,  in  order  to  play  them  well,  enlarges  the  understand- 
ing and  teaches  the  nature  of  organisation.  A  premium  is 
placed  on  initiative  and  the  leader  is  trained  for  future  ac- 
tivities. The  social  worth  of  associated  and  directed  play 
is  paramount.  Games  place  a  premium  on  organisation  and 
their  value  for  attaining  the  accomplishment  of  purposes  is 
seen.  They  teach  cooperation.  There  is  no  success  for  the 
players'  team  without  all  its  members  subordinate  themselves 
to  the  group  and  work  together.  The  value  of  the  group 
and  a  regard  for  it  is  thus  inculcated.  Altruism  is  promoted 
and  selfishness  curbed.  Zeal,  enthusiasm,  and  devotion  to  a 
cause  is  engendered.  Love  of  association  and  community 
spirit  are  other  no  less  worthy  qualities  which  are  attained 
by  means  of  games. 

The  country  child  is  as  much  in  need  of  having  most  of 
these  qualities  developed  as  the  city  child.     He  has  the  same 


192       CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 


need  of  a  symmetrical  growth  of  body.  He  is  probably  as 
strong,  or  stronger,  and  heavier  than  his  colleague  of  the 
city;  but  he  lacks  the  poise  and  proportionate  development 
which  the  latter  possesses.  An  investigation  was  made  of  the 
height,  weight,  and  head  circumference  of  country  and  city 
boys  and  girls  of  North  Dakota.  Children  of  the  age  of  12 
in  rural  and  city  schools  were  measured.  The  data  for  the 
two  groups  are  presented  in  the  accompanying  table  (Table 
21).  The  number  measured  in  each  case  is  small  and  the 
results  are  therefore  not  decisive.  But  they  are  interesting 
and  indicate  the  country  child  is  larger  than  the  city  child. 

TABLE  XXI 

PHYSICAL  DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN   BUBAL  AND  CITY   CHILDREN 
RURAL 


Head 

Sex,  Age 

Number 

Height 

Weight 

Circum- 

ference 

Male     12          ... 

19 

58  9 

86  1  Ibs 

21  34 

Female,    12    

11 

57.11 

82.2  Ibs. 

21  34 

Average    

30 

58.25 

84  6  Ibs 

21  34 

; 

/ 

CITY 


Head 

Sex,  Age 

Number 

Height 

Weight 

Circum- 

ference 

Male,    12    

20 

56.5 

80  7    Ibs 

21  27  in 

Female,    12    

20 

57.77 

80.47  Ibs. 

20.97  in. 

Average    

40 

56.9 

80.58  Ibs 

21  12  in 

It  is  stated  that  it  was  found  by  Civil  War  and  Spanish 
War  officers  that  city  bred  troops  were  quicker  to  follow  or- 
ders and  were  able  to  endure  more  hardships  than  country 
men.  Recent  tests  in  gymnastics  of  this  country  tend  to 
indicate  just  the  opposite  as  to  endurance.  "While  in  the 


SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTRY  LIFE     193 

sprints,  the  inability  of  the  country  boys  to  get  a  quick  start 
acts  as  a  serious  handicap,  in  the  longer  races,  they  main- 
tain a  more  regular  pace  and  manifest  greater  endurance 
than  city  boys,  even  when  there  is  a  demand  made  upon  the 
will  to  key  up  the  muscles  to  a  last  supreme  effort."  4 

Country  boys  lack  cooperative  ability  and  power  to  co- 
ordinate the  organs  of  their  body  as  compared  with  city  boys. 
Mr.  Myron  T.  Scudder  found  not  only  that  country  boys  "  did 
not  know  how  to  play,  but  that  when  they  did  try  their 
physical  development  was  neither  as  high  nor  as  even  as  that 
shown  by  the  boys  in  the  Public  School  Athletic  League  of 
New  York  City."  5 

Farm  labour  does  not  take  the  place  of  organised  play. 
Indeed,  there  is  reason  to  think  that  child  labour  on  the  farm 
is  in  many  cases  open  to  extreme  severity  and  abuse.  Boys 
are  often  put  at  tasks  far  beyond  their  age  and  powers,  and 
kept  at  work  far  beyond  the  ten-hour  period  of  adult  indus- 
trial labour.  Compulsory  education  laws  do  not  always  pro- 
tect the  child.  A  North  Dakota  County  Superintendent 
instructing  a  body  of  rural  school  directors  advised  them  that 
the  state  school  law  might  be  violated  in  his  county.  It  ia 
understood  that  similar  leniency  exists  in  other  states. 

The  social  needs  of  the  country  child  for  organised  play 
are  paramount.  He  craves  this  form  of  recreation.  His 
future  social  nature  and  cooperative  ability  are  largely  de- 
pendent on  it  for  their  development.  He  has  a  right  to  this 
recreational  pleasure,  and  stern  justice  and  the  responsibili- 
ties which  later  he  is  to  carry  demand  that  it  shall  be  ex- 
tended to  him. 

(d)  Associational  life  is  desirable  to  bring  about  a  social 
solidarity.  A  community  exists  only  where  common  inter- 
ests are  recognised  and  acted  on.  We  speak  of  a  neighbour- 

*  Guy  D.  Gold,  "  The  Psychology  of  the  Country  Boy,"  Rural  Manhood, 
April,  1911,  p.  108. 

s  Stern,  Chap.  1,  and  Gold,  op.  oit.,  p.  107. 


194      CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

hood  and  probably  mean  by  it  that  in  a  given  region  people 
live  on  farms  which  lie  side  by  side.  A  neighbourhood  is 
more  than  that.  It  is  a  community  or  it  is  nothing  at  all* 
If  people  do  not  neighbour  with  each  other,  if  they  do  not 
recognise  their  mutual  interests  and  draw  together  along 
those  lines,  there  is  no  neighbourhood  and  no  society. 
/  Social  solidarity  is  good  as  a  means  and  it  is  good  as  an 
end.  As  an  end  it  enlarges  personality.  Our  persons  are 
as  expansive  as  the  interests  they  circumscribe.  Personality 
is  built  up  by  absorbing  the  ideas,  sympathies,  interests, 
points  of  view,  habits  of  reaction,  methods  of  adjustment,  etc., 
of  our  fellow  men.  So  the  child's  person  grows.  As  we 
grow  older  we  continue  the  process.  To  cease  to  drink  in  and 
give  out  is  to  stop  the  development  of  our  personalities. 
Hence  the  enrichment  of  the  personalities  of  any  given  region 
is  dependent  on  a  frequent  and  close  give  and  take  between 
the  individuals  of  the  district.  Family  life  is  a  means  to 
this  end.  Large  families  in  the  country  might  be  justified 
to  secure  this  end.  But  the  development  of  the  associational 
life  of  a  considerable  number  of  families  is  a  further  and 
necessary  means  to  secure  richer  and  larger  results. 

As  a  means,  social  solidarity  is  a  factor.  The  historic 
devices  which  have  been  used  to  generate  it  is  a  recognition 
of  its  value.  Among  these  in  primitive  times  was  the  idea 
of  blood  relationship,  and  in  more  developed  times  patriotism. 
The  ties  of  blood  held  groups  together  when  humanity  was 
in  its  childhood.  It  was  intensified  and  encouraged  by  ideas 
of  tradition  and  religious  sanction.  A  premium  was  placed 
on  preferring  the  individual  of  a  blood  group  rather  than  one 
of  a  foreign  group.  Outside  groups  were  anathematised, 
ridiculed,  hated,  destroyed  wherever  possible.  The  group 
kept  its  identity,  promoted  its  life,  and  evolved  by  this  device. 
Patriotism  serves  this  purpose  to-day.  Nations  are  con- 
sidered strong,  other  things  being  equal,  in  proportion  to 
their  patriotism.  The  Japanese  surprised  the  occidental 


SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTRY  LIFE       195 

world  by  their  exhibition  of  absolute  devotion  to  their  coun- 
try's cause  in  the  Russo-Japanese  War.  No  danger  was  too 
great  or  death  too  dreadful  for  Japanese  troops  to  meet.  We 
promote  patriotism  by  flags,  songs,  exercises,  appeals,  boasts, 
because  it  secures  a  unity  of  spirit  and  a  devotion  which 
makes  the  nation  strong  and  inviolable.  What  blood-ties 
were  to  primitive  men  and  patriotism  to  modern  states  local 
pride  and  devotion  must  be  to  country  neighbourhoods. 
They  will  be  strong,  vigorous,  alert,  able  to  survive  and  to 
develop  by  their  means. 

Direction  Rural  Socialisation  Should  Take. —  A  unanimity 
of  opinion  does  not  exist,  among  students  of  mral  matters, 
as  to  what  direction  the  socialisation  of  the  country  should 
taka  Shall  it  follow  the4ines  developed  in  the  city  or  build 
its  own  ?  Shall  it  be  mere  imitation  of  city  ways,  a  whole- 
sale borrowing  of  organisations,  or  will  it  be  best  to  adopt 
and  reconstruct  those  factors  for  its  own  peculiar  conditions  ? 
Can  the  country  be  citified,  and  is  it  best  it  should  be,  or 
must  it  build  up  a  real  life  of  its  own  which  ^^11  not  be  a 
pale  copy  of  life  that  is  built  on  different  founcBions  ? 

It  will  be  worth  while  to  consider  the  suggestions  which 
have  been  made  by  men  who  have  a  knowledge  of  rural  mat- 
ters. 

First,  some  would  have  the  farmers  gathered  together  in 
small  villages  after  the  manner  of  European  agricultural 
life.  Says  President  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield  of  this  opinion : 

"  This  remedy,  however,  is  of  doubtful  value.  In  the  first 
place,  the  scheme  is  not  immediately  practicable.  About 
three  and  one-half  billions  of  dollars  are  now  invested  in 
farm  buildings,  and  it  will  require  some  motive  more  power- 
ful than  that  inspired  by  academic  logic  to  transfer,  even 
gradually,  this  investment  to  village  groups.  Moreover,  it 
is  possible  to  dispute  the  desirability  of  the  remedy.  The 
farm  village  at  best  must  be  a  mere  hamlet.  It  can  secure 
for  the  farmer  very  few  of  the  urban  advantages  he  may 


196       CONSTRUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

want,  except  that  of  permitting  closer  daily  intercourse  be- 
tween families.  And  it  is  questionable  if  the  petty  society  of 
such  a  village  can  compensate  for  the  freedom  and  purity 
of  rural  family  life  now  existing.  It  may  even  be  asserted 
with  some  degree  of  positiveness  that  the  small  village,  on 
the  moral  and  intellectual  sides,  is  distinctly  inferior  to  the 
isolated  farms." 

Second,  better  means  of  communication  are  recommended 
to  secure  needed  rural  social  conditions. 

"  At  the  present  time  rural  isolation  in  America  is  being 
overcome  by  the  development  of  better  means  of  communi- 
cation among  farmers.  So  successful  are  these  means  of 
communication  proving  that  we  cannot  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  herein  lies  the  remedy.  Improved  wagon  roads,  the 
rural  free  mail  delivery,  the  farm  telephone,  trolley  lines 
through  country  districts  are  bringing  about  a  positive  revo- 
lution in  country  living.  They  are  curing  the  evils  of  isola- 
tion, without  in  the  slightest  degree  robbing  the  farm  of  its 
manifest  advantages  for  family  life.  The  farmers  are  being 
welded  in^Pa  more  compact  society,"  given  greater  alertness 
of  mind,  and  the  basis  is  being  laid  for  larger  social  activities. 
"  The  problem  now  is  to  extend  these  advantages  to  every 
rural  community  —  in  itself  a  task  of  huge  proportions.  If 
this  can  be  done  and  isolation  can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
the  solution  of  all  other  rural  social  problems  will  become 
vastly  easier."  6 

Roosevelt  attributed  rural  exodus  to  "  loneliness  and  lack 
of  mental  companionship,"  and  hoped  that  free  delivery,  tele- 
phone, bicycle,  trolley,  etc.,  would  do  much  toward  "  lessening 
the  isolation  of  farm  life  and  making  it  brighter  and  more 
attractive."  Many  think  just  the  reverse  will  occur.  They 
will  make  the  city  more  accessible  and  spread  information 
about  it  and  its  seductive  attractions  which  may  increase  the 
urban  immigration.  Anyway  the  city  will  develop  more 

e  Butterfield,  same,  pp.  20-22. 


SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTRY  LIFE       197 

rapidly  in  material  advantages  than  the  country  and  widen 
the  breach,  rather  than  be  overtaken  by  the  country  through 
its  urbanisation. 

>  Still  others  take  a  rather  pessimistic  view  of  the  effects  of 
rapid  and  easy  communication  which  will  put  the  country 
in  close  touch  with  urban  centres.  The  chance  and  hazard- 
taking  habit  is  one  of  the  dangers  of  mankind.  "  Already 
those  miraculous  agencies  in  the  hands  of  cities,  that  destroy 
alike  space  and  time,  are  visibly  instilling  the  virus  of  their 
many  evil  customs  and  methods  into  the  various  industries 
diffused  throughout  the  nation,  hitherto  exempt  from  them. 
Even  now,  the  entire  rural  element  of  the  country  is  being 
closely  and  intimately  linked  to  the  chance-taking  centres 
of  the  nation.  It  is,  therefore,  even  at  the  present  time,  no 
unusual  circumstance  for  the  farmer  to  leave  his  plough  in 
the  furrow,  and  with  it  his  honest  labour,  and  repair  to  the 
well-installed  telephone  in  his  own  home,  to  enjoy  the  thrill 
of  a  venture  in  the  wheat  pit  of  Chicago  or  the  stock-market 
of  New  York." 

The  result  will  be  an  "  incongruous  medley  of  honest  crea- 
tive effort  and  speculative  venture.  The  daily  routine  of  the 
farmer's  life  may  thus  ultimately  become  a  round  of  rapid 
alternations  between  the  ticker  and  the  plough." 

Realisation  of  the  danger  may  be  obtained  by  remember- 
ing that  the  farmers  are  more  intimately  connected  with 
chance-taking  centres  than  were  their  forefathers  who  lived 
in  the  cities  where  the  dangerous  foci  are  centred.7 

Third,  very  effective  reasons  are  given  why  the  country 
should  build  its  own  institutions  and  civilisation.  "  The 
country  must  develop  its  own  ideals  and  self-respect.  My 
city  friends,  for  example,  are  proposing  ways  whereby  coun- 
try people  may  have  entertainment,  but  they  make  the  funda- 
mental error  of  fashioning  their  schemes  on  city  ways.  The 
real  countryman  does  not  think  of  theatres  and  recitals  and 

7  Bookwalter,  "  Rural  versus  Urban,"  pp.  279-81. 


198      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

receptions  and  functions  in  the  way  that  the  city  man  does, 
and  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  that  he  should.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  very  important  that  he  should  not.  The  country- 
man needs  more  social  life,  but  his  entertainment  and  con- 
tentment must  come  largely  out  of  his  occupation  and  his 
contact  with  nature,  not  from  mere  extraneous  attractions."  8 

"  I  will  illustrate  this  by  speaking  of  the  country  move- 
ment to  revive  sports  and  games.  More  games  and  recreation, 
are  needed  in  the  country  as  much  as  in  the  city.  In  fact, 
there  may  be  greater  need  of  them  in  the  country  than  else- 
where. The  tendency  seems  to  be  just  now,  however,  to 
introduce  old  folk-games.  We  must  remember  that  folk 
games  such  as  we  are  likely  to  introduce  have  been  developed 
in  other  countries  and  in  other  times.  They  represent  the 
life  of  other  peoples.  To  a  great  extent  they  are  love-making 
games.  They  are  not  adapted  in  most  cases  to  our  climate.  • 
To  introduce  them  is  surely  to  bring  in  another  exotic  fac- 
tor and  to  develop  a  species  of  theatricals."  9 

Country  life  cannot  be  effectively  improved  by  grafting 
on  city  ways.  It  cannot  hope  to  rival  the  advantages  of  the 
cities.  Cheap  and  garish  entertainments,  electric  lights,  ad- 
vertisements affording  nightly  displays  of  fireworks,  public 
spectacles  and  meets  of  great  magnitude,  institutional 
churches,  social  settlements,  play-grounds  and  social  centres 
as  separate  institutions  can  not  be  expected  to  thrive  in  rural 
regions  and  meet  their  peculiar  necessities. 

"  In  a  properly  organised  rural  neighbourhood  could  be 
developed  that  higher  kind  of  attraction  which  is  suggested 
by  the  very  word  neighbourhood.  .  .  .  When  people  are 
really  interested  in  each  other  — •  and  this  interest  comes  of 
habitually  working  together  —  the  smallest  personal  traits  or 
events  affecting  one  are  of  interest  to  all.  The  simplest  piece 
of  amateur  acting  or  singing,  done  in  the  village  hall  by  one 

s  L.  H.  Bailey,  "  The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  pp.  64-65. 
9  Bailey,  "  The  Training  of  the  Farmer,"  pp.  8-9. 


SOCIALISATION  OF  COUNTRY  LIFE       199 

of  the  villagers,  will  arouse  more  enthusiasm  among  his 
friends  and  neighbours  than  can  be  excited  by  the  most  con- 
summate performance  of  a  professional  in  a  great  theatre, 
where  no  one  in  the  audience  knows  or  cares  for  the  per- 
former." 

Fourth,  the  country  stands  in  need  of  developing  its  own 
permanent  leadership.  Elsewhere  the  evidence  relative  to, 
this  need  is  given.  In  earlier  chapters  mention  has  been 
made  of  it.  The  dependence  of  farmers  on  other  classes  for 
political  direction  and  initiative  has  been  shown.  Statesman- 
ship of  a  large  sort  comes  from  non-rural  classes.  Especially 
home  ability  must  be  grown  which  shall  understand  rural 
conditions  and  communities  as  such.  It  must  appreciate  the 
deepest  social  necessities  and  demands  and  be  constructive 
in  its  attempt  to  devise  ways  to  satisfy  those  conditions. 

REFERENCES 

Stem.  "  Neighbourhood  Entertainments/'  Introduction,  p.  ix;  and 
Chap.  1. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore.  Accompanying  message  to  "Report  of  the 
Country  Life  Commission,"  p.  6. 

Bailey,  L.  H.  "  The  Training  of  Farmers,"  pp.  8-9  and  15-16;  "The 
State  and  the  Farmer,"  pp.  64-65. 

Gillette,  J.  M.     "Vocational  Education,"  pp.  6-7. 

Blackmar,  F.  W.     "Elements  of  Sociology,"  Bk.  Ill,  Chap.  1. 

Mangold.    "  Child  Problems,"  Book  II,  Chap.  1. 

Groos,  Karl.     "The  Play  of  Animals,"  Introduction,  and  Chap.  1. 

Gold,  Guy  D.  "The  Psychology  of  the  Country  Boy,"  Rural  Man- 
hood, April,  1911,  pp.  107-8. 

Butterfield,  Kenyon  L.     "Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  pp.  20-22. 

Bookwalter,  John  W.     "Rural  Versus  Urban,"  pp.  279-81. 

Plunkett,  Sir  Horace.    "The  Rural  Problem  of  the  United  States." 

"Country  Life  Problem."    Editorial  —  Nation,  Vol.   89,  pp.  479-80. 

"  Making  Country  Life  Attractive."    Independent,  Vol.  68,  pp.  59-60. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

BUBAL   SOCIAL    INSTITUTIONS    AND    TIIEIB    IMPBOVEMENT 

CLUBS 

In  previous  connections,  especially  in  the  last  chapter,  we 
have  seen  the  desirability  and  necessity  of  collective  action  in 
rural  communities.  In  order  that  individuals  may  associate 
and  operate  collectively  agencies  are  requisite.  Organisa- 
tions are  to  society  what  bony  framework  and  muscles  are 
to  the  cell-organisms  which  make  up  the  human  body.  They 
make  possible  united  effort  on  which  much  of  the  individual's 
happiness  depends.  In  the  country  especially  the  individual 
can  accomplish  little  of  a  social  nature  through  individual 
undertakings.  He  is,  therefore,  all  the  more  dependent  on 
social  contrivances  to  secure  collective  results. 

It  is  well,  however,  to  remember  that  organisations  are  but 
the  means  through  which  human  welfare  is  to  be  attained. 
They  are  not  ends  and  the  mistake  should  never  be  made  of 
establishing  them  just  for  the  sake  of  having  the  equipment 
which  some  other  community  possesses.  The  country  does 
not  need  institutionalisation  in  this  sense.  Unless  a  demand 
exists  it  is  better  without  institutions. 

"  Through  the  Local  Improvement  Association,  the  com- 
munity can  work  effectively  for  better  conditions  —  im- 
proved roads,  better  schools,  more  efficient  local  government; 
for  greater  opportunities  for  culture,  through  local  libraries, 
lectures  and  music.  Clubs  for  boys  and  girls  supply  a  need 
in  education  not  satisfied  by  the  home  or  the  school,  stimu- 
lating, as  they  do,  the  child's  self-reliance,  and  a  capacity  to 
govern,  as  well  as  teaching  him  to  submit  in  a  community; 

200 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  201 

of  his  peers  —  qualities  not  developed  under  the  restraint 
of  the  home  or  the  school." 

They  also  provide  older  boys  and  girls  with  opportunities 
for  study  and  improvement. 

"  The  need  of  mutual  help  is,  perhaps, 'greatest  among  the 
women  in  the  community.  While  the  women  cling  to  the 
narrow  confines  of  the  kitchen  and  the  home  circle,  the  other 
members  of  the  family  are  developing  new  interests,  and  are 
leaving  her  behind  and  mentally  alone.  If  she  can  keep 
abreast  of  the  world  and  its  interests,  lighten  the  drudgery 
of  the  household  by  adopting  improved  methods,  learn  what 
may  contribute  to  the  better  upbringing  of  children,  the  gain 
is  not  only  to  the  woman  but  to  the  family  as  a  whole.  In 
the  grind  of  routine  household  duties,  there  is  need  of  the 
mutual  encouragement  that  comes  from  common  effort  in 
one  direction,  and  of  stated  times  when  the  women  of  the 
community  can  come  together  for  serious  conference  or  for 
pleasure.  Here  is  the  field  of  service  of  the  properly  organ- 
ised woman's  club."  1 

1.  The  Local  Improvement  Association  is  a  means  of  get- 
ting things  done  for  the  community  which  individuals  are 
not  likely  to  undertake. 

The  Association  may  undertake  the  clearing  of  weeds  from 
streets  and  roads,  and  from  open  fields  to  prevent  seeding; 
the  removal  of  rubbish  from  public  places;  improvement  of 
schoolhousesr  churches,  and  their  grounds ;  the  planting  of 
trees  in  public  grounds  and  along  roads;  drainage  and  sani- 
tation of  pestilential  places;  and  whatever  is  in  demand. 
Securing  the  participation  of  children  in  activities  and  pro- 
grammes is  important.  It  arouses  their  interest  in  the  coun- 
try and  secures  the  translation  of  family  interest  into  action. 

Special  days  and  occasions  may  be  taken  advantage  of  with 
good  results.  Arbor  Day  affords  such  an  opportunity. 
Children  may  well  be  instructed  in  advance  in  school  or  in  a 

i  Stern,  "  Neighbourhood  Entertainments,"  pp.  ix-xii. 


202      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

section  of  the  Association  in  all  matters  relative  to  the  trans- 
planting of  trees  and  bushes.  Thorough  preparation  and 
organisation  will  make  the  day  a  successful  one  and  make 
every  one  feel  that  he  has  contributed  something. 

Another  opportunity  is  offered  by  local  history.  A  com- 
mittee of  the  Association  may  be  formed  on  "  History  and 
Historic  Landmarks."  Such  activities  cultivate  the  spirit 
which  talks  of  "  our  town/'  "  our  township,"  "  our  district." 
It  breeds  local  patriotism  and  gives  the  community  an  in- 
dividuality. 

The  Association  may  promote  Old  Home  Week  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  back  the  old  settlers.  It  may  also  in- 
itiate and  organise  a  lecture  course  association  which  would 
bring  outside  talent  to  contribute  new  ideas,  features,  and 
zest  to  community  life.2 

•  2.  Boys'  Clubs. —  Boys'  clubs  take  advantage  of  the 
"  ganging  "  age  of  boys,  satisfy  their  craving  to  belong  to 
something,  and  interest  the  outside  home  circle  in  their  af- 
fairs. They  train  them  to  get  along  with,  their  fellows,  to 
show  consideration,  and  to  exercise  self-control.  Through 
such  organisations  leadership  is  developed.  Their  negative 
value  is  to  keep  the  youngsters  out  of  mischief. 

Boys'  clubs  have  a  wide  range  and  must  be  adapted  to 
meet  local  needs.  City  boys  need  to  be  kept  out  of  mischief, 
country  boys  need  companionship  and  training  in  association. 
The  club  must  have  a  definite  motive,  whether  social  or 
studious.  The  country  boy  is  self-reliant,  but  needs  to  learn 
how  to  express  himself  among  his  fellows,  to  sink  the  con- 
sciousness of  self,  to  work  with  others.  The  club  should  aim 
to  realise  those  ends. 

There  are  certain  requisites  for  a  country  boys'  club.  The 
members  should  be  of  the  same  age  so  as  to  have  a  similar 
grade  of  knowledge  and  interests.  There  should  be  a  va- 
riety of  occupations  in  the  club  to  meet  various  tastes.  They 

2  Stern,  "  Neighbourhood  Entertainments,"  Chap.  1. 


KUEAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  203 

may  consist  of  debates,  essays,  and  readings,  to  be  alternated 
with  indoor  athletics,  outdoor  games,  recitations,  simple 
plays  and  entertainments.  A  few  special  events  like  public 
entertainments,  debates  with  rival  clubs,  and  competitive 
games,  give  the  members  something  to  look  forward  to  and 
increase  their  interest  as  well  as  that  of  friends.  Jealousy 
is  allayed  by  rotation  in  office.  A  regular  place  of  meeting 
is  advisable,  although  meetings  may  be  held  at  members' 
homes  in  turn.  The  decoration  and  improvement  of  a  per- 
manent club  room  adds  interest.  Weekly  meetings  in  win- 
ter, if  possible,  is  advised,  with  one  formal  meeting  a  year. 
Older  boys  manage  their  own  club  but  should  have  an  ad- 
viser. Boys  under  fourteen  elect  their  officers  but  should 
be  under  the  guidance  of  a  wise  "  youthful "  leader  who  is 
capable  of  eliciting  hero  worship.  The  athletic,  local  history, 
natural  history,  and  agricultural  clubs,  are  foras  of  associa- 
tions which  have  proved  successful  among  boJP 

3.  Girls*  Clubs. — It  seems  wise  to  separate  girls  and  boys 
between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  eighteen  into  different  organ- 
isations.    Their  interests  diverge  then.     Boys  are  active  and 
athletic.     Girls  enjoy  quiet.work  or  reading. .    The  attempt  to 
find  common  ground  results  in  boredom  or  silly  sentimentality 
which  is  worse.     Girls  have  the  same  desire  as  boys  for  com- 
panionship, to  worship  idols,  and  to  "  belong  to  something." 

If  an  athletic  club  for  girls  is  organised  they  should  be 
carefully  guarded  against  overstrain.  Clubs  in  local  and 
natural  history  are  suitable  to  them.  Sewing  and  cooking 
classes  taught  by  competent  women  of  the  neighbourhood 
or  others  are  desirable. 

4.  Young  People's  Clubs. —  Older  boys  and  girls  have  the 
same  desire  for  companionship  as  younger,  and  secure  greater 
gains  from  clubs.     The  sexes  work  together  well  after  the 
age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen.     Their  interests  are  more  in 
common.     The  programmes  may  be  made   systematic  and 
may  be  conducted  by  the  members,  but  older  and  wiser  lead- 


204      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY! 

ers  are  helpful.  Literary  studies  have  been  found  to  give 
satisfaction  and  profit.  Shakesperean  studies  opened  up 
ambitions  to  excel  in  rendition  of  parts.  Open  readings  may 
be  given  after  some  excellence  has  been  attained.  These  be- 
come social  events  to  the  young  people  of  the  neighbourhood. 
After  each  session  time  is  devoted  to  social  intercourse. 
Amateur  theatricals  may  be  undertaken  under  proper  direc- 
tion. They  are  a  source  of  pleasure  and  a  means  of  culture. 
Participation  improves  the  memory,  speaking  ability,  ease  of 
carriage,  appearance  in  public,  poise  and  self-control.  The 
study  of  parts  between  times  helps  to  hold  the  young  people 
together. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  a  literature  which  touches  the  in- 
terests of  farm  life  closely  does  not  exist.  Poems,  novels, 
serious  works  of  various  forms,  are  quite  largely  urbanised 
or  industrially^  Young  people's  and  other  rural  literary 
and  study  djMBrould  have  a  more  permanent  foundation 
did  the  subject  matter  pertain  more  intimately  to  the  life 
conditions  of  the  country. 

5.  Women's  Clubs.—"  A  survey  of  the  work  of  women's 
clubs  throughout  the  country  discloses  the  fact  that  in  most 
instances,  these  clubs,  far  from  leading  women  into  greater 
worldliness  and  away  from  their  households  and  children,  are 
useful  in  aiding  the  mothers  to  become  better  home-keepers. 
In  other  words,  these  clubs  help  the  modern  home  to  keep 
pace  with  modern  school  and  business  life.  Woman  has  al- 
ways been  considered  the'  great  social  factor,  consequently  it 
lies  with  her  to  institute  whatever  reform  makes  for  better 
community  life,  provides  openings  for  mental  development 
or  initiates  harmless  and  satisfying  forms  of  recreation. 

"  All  forms  of  recreation  and  of  work  gain  by  being  shared 
with  others.  The  temptation  to  form  the  stay-at-home  habit 
is  great,  more  particularly  to  women  who  have  the  care  of 
large  families  and  live  in  isolated  districts.  They  are  apt 
to  lose  the  desire  for  contact  with  the  life  of  the  community 


KUKAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  205 

and  to  fall  slaves  to  a  deadening  routine  into  which  it  grows 
more  and  more  difficult  to  break.  To  create  a  bond  of 
friendly  intercourse  between  such  women,  and  a  common 
meeting-ground  where  they  may  come  together  and  spend  an 
occasional  afternoon,  there  to  read  the  same  books  or  to  ex- 
press their  thoughts  to  one  another,  is  the  object  of  the  club ; 
and  its  effect  is  found  to  be  the  rousing  of  latent  interests 
and  broadening  of  both  mind  and  sympathies." 

The  question  of  available  subjects  is  a  difficult  one.  What 
women  are  accomplishing  in  various  fields  should  stir  up  in- 
terest. The  work  of  literary  women  is  most  accessible. 
"  Travels  at  Home  "  is  another  field.  One  class  completed 
a  round-the-world  tour  covering  several  years.  Publishing 
firms  issue  inexpensive  prints  of  famous  places  and  hundreds 
of  these  are  obtainable.  George  Eliot's  "  Romola  "  can  be 
made  vivid  by  views  of  Florence.  Something  interesting 
may  be  derived  from  a  lively  art  club.  Even  more  valuable 
and  interesting  is  a  household  economics  course.  For  this  it 
is  advisable  to  work  under  the  leadership  of  some  neighbour- 
ing institution  which  has  experts  in  the  subject.  Bulletins 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  on  various 
foods  may  be  obtained  as  aids.  An  outline  course  for  such  a 
club  may  prove  valuable.  The  numbers  attached  to  the  fol- 
lowing topics  refer  to  Farmers'  Bulletins. 

1.  Economising  time  and  strength  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  house  and  utensils,  and  in  organising  household  work. 
(353,  270,  342.) 

2.  Most  economical  stoves  and  lighting  devices,  their  care, 
etc. 

3.  Use  of  fireless  cooker,  arguments  for  and  against. 

4.  Care  of  drains,  and  garbage  disposal. 

5.  Removal   of   dust,    proper   ventilation,    rugs,    carpets, 
sweeping,  dusting,  etc. 

6.  Canning  and  preserving.      (175,  203,  359.) 

7.  Principles  of  nutrition  and  nutritive  value  of  food. 


206      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

(34,  85,  93,  112,  121,  128,  142,  182,  244,  249,  256,  293, 
332,  363,  391.) 

8.  School  lunches. 

9.  Household  decoration. 

10.  Best  flowers  to  raise  for  interior  and  outside  purposes. 

11.  Use  of  "  parlour  "  and  kitchen. 

12.  How  to  keep  children  at  home  and  interested  in  farm 
work. 

13.  Food    adulteration    and    sanitation    in    neighbouring 
states. 

14.  School  and  home  sanitation,  and  flies. 

15.  Neighbourhood  beautification  and  housekeeping. 

Another  useful  series  of  topics  could  be  arranged  on  mat- 
ters of  child-life  and  child-rearing.  Refreshments  are  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  club.  It  is  a  good  way  to  get  people 
drawn  out  over  teacups  and  acquainted  and  may  be  regarded 
as  the  equivalent  of  men's  "  smokers."  An  efficient  commit- 
tee is  necessary  to  arrange  a  programme  and  to  see  that  ex- 
penses are  kept  down  and  emulation  in  display  does  not  creep 
in  to  dismember  the  club. 

A  certain  amount  of  cooperation  between  town  and  coun- 
try clubs  is  desirable  and  the  benefits  are  not  all  to  the  coun- 
try woman.  Information  and  vision  will  accrue  to  the  mem- 
bers of  both  kinds  of  clubs.  Joint  meetings  twice  a  year  are 
found  profitable.  If  the  city  club  has  quarters  this  might 
be  used  as  rest  quarters  for  country  women.  Daily  visita- 
tion by  city  women  establishes  many  valuable  friendships. 
The  rest  room  for  women  from  the  farms,  who  have  to  spend 
hours  at  a  time  waiting  in  stores,  is  very  necessary  because 
humane  utility  apart  from  any  form  of  club.  The  women 
of  Ottumwa,  Iowa,  maintain  such  a  room  in  the  town  hall  of 
that  place.  The  library  is  the  seat  of  the  rest  room  at  Storm 
Lake,  Iowa.3 

a  The  new  county  court-house  at  Wahpeton,  North  Dakota,  contains  a 
rest  room  for  farm  women  and  a  room  for  farm  men. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  207 

Farm  women  obtain  the  pleasures  of  association  and  much 
valuable  information  and  discipline  in  the  Grange,  and  in 
the  woman's  section  of  Farmers'  Institutes.  Further  refer- 
ence will  be  made  to  these  topics  in  treating  "  farmers'  or- 
ganisations." 


Various  organisations  in  rural  regions  have  sprung  up 
which  may  be  designated  as  farmers'  organisations.  These 
might  be  treated  in-  several  connections  in  this  volume. 
Some  of  them  are  essentially  business  in  purpose,  others 
primarily  educational,  but  all  afford  the  "  social "  aspect  to 
a  greater  or  less  degree.  Only  those  which  appear  to  be  of 
a  permanent  nattire'will  be  considered. 

1.  The  Grange. —  It  has  been  supposed  that  this  historic 
association  was  passing  away.  From  1880  to  1890  the  order 
lost  heavily  in  the  West  and  South,  although  it  grew  steadily 
in  New  England  and  the  Middle  States.  Thirty  states  pay 
dues  to  the  National  Grange  treasury,  twenty-six  states  sent 
delegates  to  the  National  Grange  in  a  recent  year,  and  most 
of  these  states  show  substantial  growth  in  Granges  and  mem- 
bership. New  York  alone  had  66,500  members  in  1905  and 
four  other  states  ranged  from  28,000  to  49,000  in  member- 
ship. The  membership  consists  of  men  and  women,  and  of 
young  people  over  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  may  apply  and 
by  vote  be  accepted.  Meetings  are  held  weekly  or  fortnightly. 
Each  regular  meeting  has  first  its  business  session,  and  then 
its  "  lecturer's  hour  "  or  literary  session,  usually  with  an  in- 
tervening recess  for  social  greetings,  etc.  The  programmes 
are  prepared  by  the  lecturer,  and  consist  of  general  discus- 
sions, essays,  talks,  debates,  readings,  recitations,  and  music ; 
an  attempt  being  made  to  suit  the  tastes  and  talents  of  all 
members,  young  and  old.  Many  Granges  have  built  and  own 
their  own  halls,  which  are  usually  equipped  with  kitchen  and 
dining-room,  in  addition  to  audience  rooms;  for  periodical 


208      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

"  feasts  "  are  as  regular  a  feature  of  the  association  as  are 
the  initiations  of  new  members.  The  social  importance  of 
the  organisation  is  seen  also  in  the  fact  that  last  year  (1910) 
ten  Grange  halls  were  dedicated  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

The  declaration  of  purpose  of  the  National  Grange  ex- 
presses the  fundamental  objects  of  the  order.  Briefly  stated, 
they  are  cooperation  among  farmers  to  secure  better  homes, 
better  manhood  and  womanhood,  better  agriculture  in  its  va- 
rious phases,  the  elimination  of  middlemen,  economy  and 
honesty  in  government,  and  the  promotion  of  education. 
Large  results  have  been  secured  in  most  of  these  directions. 
Cooperative  purchasing  direct  from  manufacturers  and  job- 
bing houses  has  taken  place  extensively;  mutual  fire  insur- 
ance companies  have  been  organised  in  several  states,  twenty- 
three  such  companies  existing  in  New  York  alone  with  policies 
aggregating  $85,000,000;  several  governmental  matters 
have  been  pushed  through  by  the  influence  of  the  Grange, 
such  as  the  regulation  of  railroad  franchises,  establishment 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  tax  reform  in 
many  states,  some  food  and  dairy  product  laws,  establish- 
ment of  rural  free  delivery,  etc. 

The  distinctive  achievements  of  the  Grange  in  smaller 
community  matters  have  been  furnishing  a  social  clearing 
house,  promotion  of  family  life,  and  raising  the  standard  of 
morals.  "  It  is  a  debating  society,  club,  lecture  course,  par- 
liamentary society,  theatre,  and  circulating  library.  In  fact, 
it  lends  itself  to  almost  any  function  that  will  instruct,  enter- 
tain, benefit,  or  assist  its  members  financially,  morally,  in- 
tellectually, or  socially."  Woman  stands  on  an  equality  with 
man  in  the  order. 

2.  Farmers'  Institutes. —  The  Farmers'  Institute  has  been 
in  existence  during  nearly  sixty  years,  and  like  the  Grange, 
has  demonstrated  its  usefulness.  As  the  institute  is  now 
conducted  it  is  really  a  part  of  educational  extension  work. 
But  it  is  also  an  organisation  of  the  rural  community  for 


RUKAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  209 

promoting  community  and  individual  interests.  Most  of  the 
work  is  done  in  gatherings  of  agricultural  people  and  the 
organisation  is  a  means  of  intercourse,  forming  acquaintances, 
and  promoting  a  class-consciousness. 

The  Institutes  were  originally  mixed  gatherings  of  men 
and  women,  continuing  for  about  two  days  of  five  sessions, 
with  mixed  programmes.  More  recently,  however,  woman's 
distinct  sphere,  function,  and  needs  have  come  into  recogni- 
tion, and  she  has  been  allotted  a  separate  section  in  many 
states.  At  the  present  time  institutes  for  young  people  be- 
tween the  ages  of  14  and  19  are  being  held. 

In  1910  every  state  had  institutes  organised  under  the 
charge  of  responsible  directors  with  a  corps  of  over  1,000 
teachers  who  were  specialists.  Besides  regular  and  special 
institutes  the  movement  embraces  movable  schools  of  agri- 
culture, field  demonstrations,  and  agricultural  trains. 

The  typical  institute  session  consists  of  about  three  topics. 
These  may  be  treated  by  experts  from  agricultural  institu- 
tions or  departments,  expert  farmers  from  the  outside,  or  local 
farmers  with  recognised  ability.  Demonstrations  are  fre- 
quent. Object  lessons  are  regarded  as  essentials  to  drive  the 
truth  home.  Social  intermixture  and  farm  talk  abounds  in 
intervals  between  sessions. 

Women's  sections  and  special  institutes  are  devoted  to  home 
matters.  Special  lecturers  and  demonstrators  lead  and  guide 
the  discussions.  The  tendency  is  in  the  direction  of  placing 
much  more  emphasis  on  these  schools  for  women. 

Young  people's  institutes  differ  from  boys'  and  girls'  clubs 
as  organised  by  the  public  schools  in  that  they  are  officered 
by  adults,  and  their  instructors  are  capable  specialists  of  the 
same  qualifications  as  those  who  lecture  before  farmers'  in- 
stitutes for  adults.  Since  children  over  14  years  old  are 
deprived  of  advanced  training  in  farming,  the  instruction  is 
wholly  vocational. 

The  states  appropriate  money  to  support  all  forms  of  in- 


210      CONSTRUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

stitute  work  and  they  are  either  under  state  or  county  direc- 
tion. The  United  States  Government  contributes  to  its  pro- 
motion through  experts,  and  the  support  of  agricultural 
colleges,  whose  staffs  are  drawn  on  for  directors,  experts,  lec- 
turers, demonstrators,  etc. 

Institutes  have  not  only  informed  but  inspired  farmers. 
They  have  aroused  dormant  communities,  quickened  life, 
made  men  think  and  discuss,  given  opportunity  for  self-de- 
velopment, encouraged  the  despondent,  and  lightened  the  bur- 
dens of  many  men  and  women  by  teaching  better  and  easier 
methods  of  farming  and  housekeeping.  They  have  popu- 
larised agricultural  education  and  started  multitudes  to  at- 
tend agricultural  colleges.  Reading-courses  and  correspond- 
ence-courses are  growing  factors  in  agricultural  education; 
but  they  cannot  take  the  place  of  the  institute,  whose  power 
is  in  face-to-face  discussion  and  personal  contact. 

3.  The  American  Society  of  Equity. —  The  American  So- 
ciety of  Equity  of  North  America  is  a  new  order.  It  was 
incorporated  under  the  laws  of  Indiana,  December  24,  1902. 
Since  then  it  has  extended  its  membership  into  several  states 
and  has  become  influential  in  determining  the  prices  of  farm- 
ers' commodities.  The  objects  as  set  forth  in  Article  III  of 
the  Articles  of  Incorporation  represent  its-vnotive  and  spirit. 

The  scope  and  nature  of  the  order  is  economic,  educational, 
scientific,  protective,  social,  pacific,  and  promotive.  It  is  a 
class-conscious  movement  based  on  democratic  and  coopera- 
tive principles.  ,  Its  organisation  is  local,  country,  state,  and 
national,  with  officers  to  carry  out  the  policies  adopted  in 
each  given  unit.  It  is  centralised  to  gain  efficiency,  but  the 
various  grades  of  the  order  possess  large  local  autonomy  and 
"  the  right  of  the  initiative  and  referendum  and  imperative 
mandate  shall  not  be  denied  the  members  of  their  respective 
unions  "  (Article  IX,  section  1  of  the  Constitution).  "  The 
members  of  this  society  are  expected  to  extend  fraternal  care 
to  one  another  in  sickness,  misfortune,  or  distress,  and  to 


BUEAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  21i 

their  families  in  bereavement "  (Article  XIV,  section  1). 
Arbitration  is  recommended  between  members,  partisan  and 
sectarian  discussions  prohibited,  cooperation  heartily  urged 
as  the  most  efficient  social  means.  (Article  XR7,  sections  2, 
3,  and  5.)  The  union  label  is  used  as  a  means  of  identifica- 
tion. 

Arising  and  spreading  as  it  has  at  a  time  when  the  spirit 
of  organisation  and  cooperation  is  abroad,  when  they  are 
coming  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  best  means  of  guarding  the 
interests  of  the  individuals  of  any  class,  and  when  farmers 
are  showing  unusual  signs  of  rising  to  meet  the  demands  for 
their  class,  the  order  of  the  American  Society  of  Equity  bids 
fair  to  become  a  large  and  permanent  factor  in  promoting 
agricultural  society. 

4.  The  Farmers*  Union.— What  the  Grange  and  Society  •'. 
of  Equity  is  to  the  North  the  Farmers'  Union  is  to  the  South. 
This  organisation  to  help  farmers  was  formed  in  the  summer 
of  1902  by  Newt  Gresham  in  the  State  of  Texas.  The 
movement  spread  rapidly  in  the  South.  In  1906  there  were 
Unions  in  every  Southern  state  and  in  some  of  the  North. 
At  that  time  Texas  led  with  3,250  Unions,  Oklahoma  fol- 
lowed with  1,400,  and  Arkansas  stood  next  with  1,356.  The 
total  number  of  Unions  was  6,870,  the  membership  was  near 
300,000,  and  new  Unions  were  being  chartered  at  the  rate 
of  twenty-five  per  day  with  a  daily  increase  of  600  members. 
A  membership  of  3,000,000  was  claimed  in  1910. 

The  objects  and  aims  of  the  Union  are  stated  by  the  by- 
laws as  follows:  "(1)  To  discourage  as  much  as  possible 
the  present  mortgage  and  credit  system.  (2)  To  assist  our 
members  in  buying  and  selling.  (3)  To  labour  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  agricultural  classes  in  the  science  of  crop  di- 
versification and  scientific  agriculture.  (4)  To  constantly 
strive  to  secure  entire  harmony  and  good  will  among  all  man- 
kind, and  brotherly  love  among  ourselves.  (5)  To  form  a 
more  adequate  union  with  those  in  authority  for  a  more  rigid 


212       CONSTRUCTIVE  BURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

and  impartial  enforcement  of  the  law,  that  crime,  vice,  and 
immorality  may  be  suppressed.  (6)  To  garner  the  tears  of 
the  distressed,  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  the  laugh  of  innocent 
childhood,  the  sweat  of  honest  labour,  and  the  virtue  of  happy 
homes  as  the  highest  jewel  known. 

"  This  is  in  no  sense  a  political  party,  and  shall  forever 
abstain  from  so  much  as  a  discussion  of  partyism.  Yet  we 
do  not  feel  it  is  our  right  to  place  shackles  upon  the  mind 
nor  a  padlock  upon  the  lips  of  any  one  who  may  wish  to  dis- 
cuss, for  educational  purposes,  the  science  of  government, 
because  upon  this  great  rock  all  important  structures  rest  for 
either  mental,  moral,  social,  or  financial  development." 

The  unions  in  union  states  have  worked  for  public  ware- 
houses for  cotton,  and  for  the  lowering  of  freight  rates.  The 
Union  has  cooperated  with  Labour  Unions,  and  members  of 
both  organisations  are  known  as  "  union  men."  In  1910  the 
Farmers'  Union,  which  met  at  St.  Louis,  adopted  a  resolu- 
tion favourable  to  Mr.  Gompers,  president  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labour,  and  other  labour  leaders.  It  pledges 
that  efforts  shall  be  made  to  preserve  their  common  "  rights 
and  liberties,"  to  give  preference  to  the  products  of  labour 
which  is  organised,  and  that  its  officers  shall  confer  and  co- 
operate with  those  of  labour  for  legislative  and  political 
amelioration. 

5.  Farmers'  Clubs. —  City  people  have  their  clubs.  Mer- 
chants, teachers,  lawyers,  doctors,  preachers  form  special  or- 
ganisations. The  Commercial  Club  is  a  kind  of  home  for 
city  men  in  general  who  are  members,  and  at  certain  times  the 
wives  of  members  are  invited  in.  Farmers  seem  about  to 
follow  the  example  set  them.  They  are  establishing  Farm- 
ers7 Clubs,  which  shall  be  to  the  farmers  what  the  other  clubs 
are  to  the  other  occupations.  It  is  understood  that  when  a 
man  joins  his  family  become  members.  He  brings  it  with 
him.  Lunches  are  brought  and  the  entire  day  is  spent. 
There  is  a  programme  both  in  the  forenoon  and  afternoon  in 


KURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  213 

which  music,  recitations,  and  readings  appear,  along  with 
serious  discussions  of  farm  and  home  and  educational  topics 
by  outside  and  local  talent.  The  interval  at  noon  is  made  a 
big  event.  Good  dinners,  visiting,  discussions  carried  on  in 
groups,  make  it  the  best  part  of  the  day. 

UBKARY 

1.  Importance  as  a  Disseminator. —  The  term  library  is 
used  to  cover  that  organisation  by  means  of  which  society  is 
supplying  its  members  with  reading  matter.  It  is  one  of  the 
important  institutions  which  is  used  for  the  promotion  of 
rural  life.  The  dynamic  influence  of  books  and  periodicals 
when  put  into  circulation  in  a  community  is  enormous.  Mod- 
ern experimental  psychology  has  demonstrated  that  ideas  are 
dynamic.  Suggestions  and  mental  images  tend  to  get  them- 
selves worked  out  and  realised  in  action  by  their  direct  and 
immediate  influence  on  the  bodily  motor  system.  There  are 
'scientific  ideas  enough,  potential,  piled  up  in  the  libraries 
of  the  land,  to  move  society  ahead  a  generation  if  they  could 
be  made  actual  and  living  in  the  minds  of  men  and  women 
of  to-day.  One  of  the  greatest  problems  in  securing  social 
progress  is  that  of  putting  scientific  information  into  common 
use.  In  our  chapters  on  the  improvement  of  the  business  of 
farming,  and  the  improvement  of  the  home  and  home  utili- 
ties, we  were  in  the  presence  of  facts  which  showed  the  enor- 
mous gains  rural  communities  might  secure  if  only  the  peo- 
ple living  in  the  country  could  really  know  the  facts  and 
their  significance.  The  library  offers  one  of  the  available 
means  of  putting  facts  and  ideas  about  agricultural  condi- 
tions into  the  minds  of  the  individuals  who  will  live  them 
into  actualisation. 

While  the  dissemination  of  scientific  knowledge  generally  is 
the  greatest,  entertainment  and  satisfaction  from  reading 
"  light  literature  "  is-  an  important  object  of  libraries.  To 
accomplish  this  object  reading  must  be  made  a  part  of  edu- 


214      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

cation.  The  reading  habit  must  be  established.  School  and 
other  agencies  should  cooperate  to  secure  this  in  youth.  In 
maturity  it  will  enliven  the  mind  and  bring  a  yearly  reward. 

2.  Agencies  of  Dissemination. —  It  is  somewhat  immaterial 
where  the  collection  of  books,  pamphlets,  and  papers  which 
constitutes  any  given  library  is  housed,  just  so  that  it  is  con- 
venient and  usable.  If  a  neighbourhood  can  afford  a  sepa- 
rate library  building,  with  various'  rooms  for  clubs,  organisa- 
tions, and  social  centre  functions  it  is  a  great  advantage. 
Such  equipment  can  be  hoped  for  as  yet  only  in  the  larger 
centres.  In  small  centres  and  in  open  country  districts  the 
collection  may  find  a  home  in  the  school  building,  the  church, 
the  country  store,  or  even  a  neighbour's  residence.  The 
method  and  means  of  securing  the  collection  is  the  important 
thing. 

The  agencies  of  dissemination  in  rural  districts  are:  (1) 
rural  school  libraries,  (2)  young  people's  reading  circles,  and 
(3)  travelling  libraries. 

Permissive  laws  exist  in  many  states  providing  for  rural 
school  libraries  through  taxation.  Others  make  state  aid 
conditional  on  raising  a  certain  amount  by  private  subscrip- 
tion. Compulsory  laws  are  necessary  to  stimulate  most  com- 
munities to  establish  these  libraries.  The  Nebraska  law  re- 
quires that  10  cents  per  child  of  school  age  be  raised  and 
invested  in  books  other  than  text-books.  Communities  hav- 
ing free  public  libraries  to  which  support  to  the  extent  of 
$300  or  over  is  given  are  exempted.  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Mis- 
souri, and  some  other  states  have  similar  laws.  They  have 
greatly  stimulated  library  extension. 

Young  People's  Reading  Circles  have  proved  useful 
agencies.  A  board  of  directors  guides  in  the  selection  of 
books.  They  are  of  a  wholesome  nature,  adapted  to  the 
different  ages,  covering  a  wide  range  of  literature,  history, 
and  adventure.  The  purchase  money  may  be  supplied  from 
public  funds  or  private  subscription. 


KUKAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  215 

The  Travelling  Library  has  for  its  objects  furnishing  good 
literature  to  the  public,  strengthening  small  libraries,  and  the 
creation  of  new  ones.  All  classes  and  communities  may  re- 
ceive books.  They  are  neatly  boxed  and  sent  out  to  all  sorts 
of  organisations  seeking  self -improvement,  such  as  women's 
clubs,  Granges,  alliances,  and  institutes,  workingmen's  clubs, 
Sunday  school  classes,  and  even  penal  and  charitable  insti- 
tutions. In  small  communities  where  the  library  finds  small 
support  the  regular  instalment  of  books  is  found  to  be  an 
important  addition.  The  advantage  is  even  more  notable  in 
the  case  of  a  small  rural  school  library.  The  travelling  li- 
brary often  acts  as  a  stimulus  to  the  community  to  secure  the 
establishment  of  a  library.  Put  -good  reading  into  a  neigh- 
bourhood and  it  whets  the  appetite  for  more. 

Besides  books  some  State  Library  Commissions  send  out 
other  educational  material.  New  York  dispenses  travelling 
art  exhibits  consisting  of  1,586  large  pictures  of  "  the  finest 
subjects  and  the  best  edition  " ;  over  21,000  mounted  photo- 
graphs to  be  hung  on  the  walls  of  the  school  for  six  months 
at  a  time  with  proper  labels  and  notes ;  and  even  better,  24,- 
458  lantern  slides,  together  with  lanterns,  screens,  and  at- 
tachments for  oil,  oxyhydrogen,  acetylene,  or  electric  light. 
It  also  sends  out  "  house  libraries  "  of  ten  volumes  each  of 
which  any  home  may  secure  for  three  months  for  a  fee  of 
one  dollar. 

Van  Wert  county,  Ohio,  has  established  a  publicly  sup- 
ported county  library  system.  It  consists  of  a  central  library, 
fifteen  branch  stations  which  receive  100  new  books  every 
three  months,  and  school  collections  in  90  out  of  115  rural 
schools  of  the  county.  During  the  past  year  this  system 
circulated  three  volumes  per  capita  of  its  29,119  people.4 

*  Rural  Manhood,  III,  227-9. 


216      CONSTKUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

REFERENCES  TO  CHAPTERS 

Clubs 

Stern,  op.  tit.     Introduction,  and  Chapters  1-4. 
Kern,  O.  J.     "  Among  Country  Schools,"  Chap.  7. 
Bailey,  L.  H.     "  The  Training  of  Farmers,"  pp.  37  ff. 
"  Boys'  and  Girls'  Agricultural  Clubs."    Farmers'  Bulletin,  No.  : 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 

Farmers1  Organisations 

Butterfield,  K.  G.     "  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  Chapters  10  and 

"History  of  Farmers'  Institutes  in  the  United  States."    U.  S.  ]>•• 
partment  of  Agriculture,  Experiment  Station  Bulletin,  No.  174. 

"  Farmers'    Organisations."     J.    A.    Edgerton,     Watson's    Magaw 
February,  1906,  pp.  423-428. 

"  Farmers  and  Unionists  Plan  to  Work  Together."     Chicago  Reco 
Herald,  May  5,  1910. 

"  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,"  1910,  pp.  143-4. 

"  Proceedings  of  the  Eleventh  and  Fifteenth  Annual  Meetings  of  the 
American  Association  of  Farmers'  Institute  Workers,"   1906  and  19 
Experiment  Station  Bulletins,  Nos.  182  and  238. 

"  Constitution  and   By-laws   of  the   American   Society   of   Equity  of 
North  America,"  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

"  The  Third  Power,"  J.  A.  Everitt. 

Editorial,  Chicago  Record-Herald,  May  10,  1910. 

"A.  C.     Editorial  on  Farmers'  Clubs."     Grand  Forks  Herald  (N'vr.b 
Dakota),  January  17,  1907. 

Marsh,   B.   C.     "The   State  Grange  —  A   Social   Force,"   The  Survc<: 
February  12,  1910,  pp.  703-4. 

"  Rochester  Social  Centres  and  Civic  Clubs  —  Story  of  the  First  Ti 
Years."     Published  by  the  League  of  Civic  Clubs,  1909. 

Libraries. 

Kern,  O.  J.     "  Among  Country  Schools,"  Chap.  6,  "  School  Libraries 

"The  American  Rural  School."     H.  W.  Foght,  Chap.    13,  "The  L; 
brary  and  Rural  Communities." 

Gillette,  J.  M.     "The  Socialisation  of  the  Library,"  American  Munic 
ipalities,  November,  1907. 

Bailey.     "  The  Training  of  the  Farmer,"  p.  37  ff. 

"Libraries   for  Everybody."     Herbert  Putnam,  World's  Work,  July, 
1905. 

"  Applied  Sociology."    L.  F.  Ward,  Chap.  12. 

Budlong,  Minnie  C.     "A  Plan  of  Organisation  for  Small  Libraries*/' 
North  Dakota  Public  Library  Commission. 

Metz,  Corrinne  A.     "  A  County  Library  System  Demonstrated,"  Rural 
Manhood,  III,  227-9. 


CHAPTER  XV 

BUBAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  AND  THEIB  IMPBOVEMENT 
(CONTINUED) — THE  CHUBCH 

The  Function  of  the  Church. —  Because  the  church  is  an 
old  historic  institution  which  has  served  the  interests  of  hu- 
manity in  various  ages  so  intimately  and  well  it  is  difficult 
to  form  a  fair  and  accurate  notion  of  what  it  may  and  should 
do  in  any  community.  Our  eyes  are  obscured  by  the  glory  of 
its  past  services  and  by  the  great  part  it  played  in  certain 
periods.  It  is  plain  that  the  church  does  not  occupy  the 
prominence  in  the  affairs  of  the  world  it  once  did.  It  can- 
not play  the  role  it  assumed  as  dictator  to  kings  and  em- 
perors in  the  time  of  Innocent  III.  Its  political  influence 
is  now  rather  incidental  and  a  divorce  between  church  and 
state,  initiated  by  Ehode  Island,  put  into  effect  first  on  a 
national  scope  by  the  United  States,  is  being  realised  among 
European  nations,  bidding  fair  to  become  universal. 

It  ;.s  worth  discussing  what  the  place  and  function  of  the 
church  is  in  the  modern  world.  Theoretically  and  sociolog- 
ically this  may  be  determined,  not  however,  with  absolute 
unanimity  of  opinion.  The  personal  bias  and  philosophy 
colour  the  findings  of  various  thinkers  and  make  the  con- 
clusions divergent.  Some  modern  conditions,  however,  may 
be  noted  which  would  seem  to  mark  out  about  what  any 
given  institution  may  and  may  not  do.  The  situation  rela- 
tive to  the  church  in  society  from  sociological  considerations 
may  indicate  what  the  church  can  not  hope  to  do  in  the  rural 
region. 

The  modern  world  works  upon  the  principle  of  the  divi- 
sion of  labour  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  previous  age.  On 

217 


218       CONSTRUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

the  structural  side  social  evolution  has  consisted  in  forming 
and  establishing  structures  to  take  up  the  tasks  which  new 
interests  and  demands  create.  Continuous  differentiation 
has  mutiplied  organisations,  each  with  its  work  to  do.  Func- 
tionally, social  evolution  has  consisted  in  the  differentiation 
of  human  wants,  the  creation  of  new  interests,  the  multipli- 
cation of  divisions  of  labour,  the  intensification  of  specialisa- 
tion. Each  social  function  has  had  its  organisation  to  exe- 
cute it.  Each  fundamental  interest  has  had  its  primary 
institution  consisting  in  turn  of  subsidiary,  specialising  or- 
ganisations, through  which  both  the  central  and  the  more 
incidental  wants  obtained  realisation.  Thus  we  have  such 
primary  institutions  as  the  religious,  the  educational,  the  in- 
dustrial, the  political,  and  so  on.  Each  one  of  these  is  broken 
up  into  differing  functional  activities,  which  seem  essential 
to  the  execution  of  the  primary  function. 

In  the  case  of  the  educational  organisation,  the  primary 
aim  is  training,  preparation  for  society ;  imparting  knowledge 
being  the  central  idea.  In  order  to  convey  information, 
there  may  have  to  be  government,  moralisation,  communica- 
tion, and  other  activities  carried  on  in  the  educational  sys- 
tem as  means  to  the  great  end.  In  the  political  activities 
equitable  regulation  of  property  and  personal  relations  in 
society  is  primary.  To  secure  this  purpose  the  organised 
state  ensues,  government  in  all  its  phases  is  established,  po- 
litical parties  with  their  machinery  for  campaigning  and  se- 
curing control  of  the  state  develop.  In  the  religious  sphere 
worship  in  some  phase  has  been  the  central  function.  It  may 
have  consisted  of  attempts  at  frightening,  at  pacification,  or 
at  communion  with  divinities  or  the  deity.  Incidentally 
subsidiary  activities  such  as  ecclesiastical  government,  edu- 
cation, charity,  and  various  other  activities  were  carried  on. 

Thus  in  all  these  cases  there  has  been  some  primary  func- 
tion undertaken  with  developing  subordinate  functions  as 
means  of  realising  the  dominant  purpose.  It  would  be  a 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  219 

sociological  error  to  think  the  case  may  be  reversed  and  that 
the  subordinate  function  may  be  elevated  to  the  position  of 
the  primary.  If  education  turns  aside  to  govern  the  state 
or  to  manufacture  goods  or  to  preach  doctrine  in  a  predom- 
inant manner,  making  the  impartation  of  knowledge  second- 
ary, it  usurps  the  function  of  other  institutions  and  abdicates 
its  own.  If  the  church,  which  is  the  institution  for  realising 
the  religious  wants  of  men,  undertakes  to  regulate  the  state, 
or  to  impart  information  of  a  scientific  and  vocational  nature 
dominantly,  dropping  religious  culturisation  into  a  subordi- 
nate place,  it  forgets  its  historic  and  sociological  division  of 
labour  and  seeks  to  do  the  primary  work  of  other  specialised 
institutions. 

The  mistake  is  often  made  of  assuming  that  because  the 
church  once  carried  on  government  or  education  it  may  do 
so  again.  This  assumption  forgets  that  social  evolution  has 
succeeded  in  cheating  new  institutions  to  take  over  some  of 
the  work  formerly  carried  on  by  other  institutions.  The 
impress  of  specialisation  is  now  so  firmly  established  that 
the  new  order  cannot  be  reversed  without  a  revolution.  The 
educational  system  of  modern  society  is  so  well  established 
and  developed,  with  its  central  aim  of  imparting  useful  and 
scientific  knowledge  in  a  systematic  and  thorough  manner, 
that  it  is  anachronistic  and  reactionary  to  propose  that  the 
church  or  any  other  institution  may  usurp  this  work.  The 
rural  school,  the  extension  work  of  university  and  college, 
the  institutes  with  their  corps  of  experts,  all  supported  by 
public  funds,  are  in  the  field  to  stay  and  to  become  more 
firmly  entrenched. 

Principles  Regulative  of  what  the  Rural  Church  May  Un- 
dertake.—  There  are  certain  useful  things  which  the  church 
in  the  rural  district  may  accomplish.  First,  it  must  not  for- 
get to  carry  on  its  primary  function  of  teaching  fundamental 
religion.  If  this  is  not  the  primary  work  of  the  church  there 
is  no  other  institution  to  take  it  up.  It  is  not  the  business 


220      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

of  the  state,  the  school,  or  the  press.  If  religion  is  essential 
to  the  masses,  then  the  church  must  see  to  it  that  the 
masses  obtain  it.  This  does  not  mean  that  a  church  must 
return  to  primitive  methods,  preach  systematic  theology, 
or  engage  in  polemical  discussions  with  other  sects.  Chris- 
tianity has  evolved  in  recent  years.  It  has  grown  in  ethical 
content  and  moral  import.  Religion  is  seen  and  interpreted 
in  its  social  relationships.  When  this  is  done  it  is  found  to 
be  uplifting  and  attractive.  Breadth  of  vision,  profundity 
of  meaning,  and  genesis  of  new  vigour  are  by  this  means 
secured  for  the  average  individual. 

To  secure  the  best  results  from  religious  teaching  the  Bible 
needs  to  be  interpreted.  The  Bible  is  an  evolutionary  litera- 
ture. In  it  may  be  seen  the  development  of  religion  in  the 
life  of  a  single  people  from  the  stage  of  primitive  clan  and 
tribal  superstitions  and  revolting  practices,  through  interven- 
ing cleansing  steps,  to  the  highest  monotheistic  conceptions 
and  ethical  content.  An  ignorant  preacher  will  place  the 
abhorrent  deeds  of  the  primitive  Hebrews  on  the  same  ethical 
plane  with  the  elevated  teachings  of  the  great  prophets  and  the 
sublime  ideas  of  Jesus.  He  will  condone  the  polygamous 
practices  of  David  and  Solomon,  the  reactionary  ideas  of 
Paul  relative  to  woman,  and  place  the  Levitical  code  on  a 
par  with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

Modern  men  are  repelled  by  such  confusing  and  contradict- 
ory conceptions.  It  is  neither  reasonable  nor  inspirational. 
It  ignores  the  teachings  of  science.  But  let  a  wise  leader 
explain  the  Bible  and  the  religious  life  of  the  Hebrews  as  a 
growth  and  light  breaks  in.  The  Bible  becomes  a  fascinating 
piece  of  literature  and  history.  Information  of  value  is 
obtained  in  it  as  to  social  evolution  and  the  evolution  of 
religion.  Jesus  appears  all  the  greater  because  he  is  the  con- 
summation of  the  development.  His  ethical  teachings  secure 
new  meaning  since  he  is  seen  to  occupy  the  position  of  both 
religious  and  social  reformer.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  221 

procedure  calls  for  an  advanced  type  of  preacher  in  the  rural 
churches. 

Second,  the  country  church  can  act  as  inspirer  and  leader 
in  the  larger  and  more  significant  advances  now  demanded  in 
the  country.  In  preceding  chapters  we  have  seen  what  many 
of  these  things  are.  The  exposition  of  the  attractions  of  con- 
tact with  nature ;  the  needs  of  improving  business,  agriculture, 
the  home  and  the  neighbourhood ;  the  rights  of  labour  on  the 
farm ;  a  better  educational  system ;  the  beautification  of  home 
grounds  and  the  country  landscape;  better  roads;  proper 
methods  of  caring  for  the  poor  and  the  defective  classes ;  are 
some  of  the  numerous  topics  of  a  larger  nature  which  the 
country  church  may  well  consider. 

It  is  not  expected  that  the  preacher  will  be  able  to  act  as 
expert  authority  on  each  and  all  of  these  subjects.  But  he 
should  know  the  needs  of  country  life  so  well,  see  the  value 
which  would  ensue  from  a  realisation  of  better  things  in  these 
and  other  directions,  and  obtain  such  a  perspective  of  the 
ideal  community,  that  he  will  be  able  to  give  inspiration  and 
direction  to  the  movements.  A  leader  who  realises  the  need 
in  a  given  direction  will  be  able  to  agitate,  suggest  and  organ- 
ise until  a  movement  is  put  on  foot  to  meet  it;  even  though 
he  does  not  understand  all  the  details  which  the  realisation 
involves.  A  man  may  be  perfectly  competent  to  preach  on 
the  demands  and  results  of  the  new  agriculture,  without  being 
an  expert  farmer.  The  literature  and  information  on  the 
subject  is  so  abounding  that  several  addresses  on  various 
phases  of  the  subject  might  well  be  given.  The  subject 
treated  in  a  large  way,  and  in  view  of  its  significance  for  pro- 
duction, for  the  nation,  for  building  up  the  home,  for 
educating  the  children,  and  for  improving  life  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood would  instruct  even  the  expert  farmer  and  encour- 
age the  average  resident  to  take  action. 

A  series  of  addresses  on  Sunday  evenings  might  easily  be 
made  on  each  of  the  larger  subjects  denoted.  Outside  experts 


222      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

and  speakers  could  be  obtained  for  portions  of  them.  Able 
local  farmers  would  be  able  to  treat  some  of  them.  In  fact, 
much  of  the  leadership  of  such  things  must  be  expected  of 
laymen  and  encouraged  in  them.  Let  the  minister  realise 
that  his  great  function  is  that  of  director  and  promoter,  en- 
thusing and  giving  courage  to  his  members  and  modestly 
pointing  the  way,  and  he  will  double  his  usefulness.  Un- 
fortunately, the  average  country  clergyman  has  no  equipment 
for  this  service.  The  reasons  will  become  apparent  when  we 
consider  the  decadence  of  the  country  church. 

Third,  the  church  may  serve  the  purpose  of  a  social  unifier 
and  social  centre  or  clearing  house.  It  need  not  seek  to  as- 
sume the  monopoly  in  these  directions.  Frequently  other 
institutions  have  already  taken  the  lead  in  this  direction  and 
are  doing  the  work  well.  Even  in  such  cases  there  is  prob- 
ably a  large  amount  of  supplemental  service  which  may  be 
rendered.  But  where  such  enterprises  are  not  established 
the  church  should  by  all  means  either  seek  to  carry  on  the  ac- 
tivities needful  or  stimulate  the  establishment  of  such  organ- 
isations as  will  do  so. 

That  these  functions  are  in  demand  in  the  country  as  well 
as  in  the  city  is  obvious.  We  have  already  noted  the  nec- 
essity for  socialisation  and  for  a  larger  social  life.  The  points 
made  may  be  referred  to.  Social  unification  has  not  been 
treated  specifically.  The  want  of  this  is  often  apparent.; 
Divisiveness,  factionalism,  neighbourhood  feuds,  sectarian-,' 
ism,  stubborn  prejudices  are  conditions  which  exist  in  multi-1 
tudes  of  districts.  A  neighbourhood  in  the  sense  of  a  com- 
munity existence  or  life  is  impossible  where  this  situation 
prevails.  Discord  is  substituted  for  concord.  Common  in- 
terest is  lacking.  Realisation  of  collective  achievements  is 
impossible.  Hence  the  need  of  a  rallying  place  and  the  main- 
tenance of  activities  and  interests  which  will  obliterate  the 
false  barriers  and  merge  the  interests  of  the  inhabitants  in  a 
common  welfare  movement. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  223 

The  enterprising  church  may  become  such  a  rallying  point. 
It  may  furnish  a  home  for  clubs  for  young  and  old,  boys'  scout 
movement,  young  people's  societies,  entertainments,  dramatic 
and  theatrical  activities,  moving  picture  shows.  It  may  hold 
agricultural  contests  and  fairs,  father  athletic  sports  and  con- 
tests, house  institutes,  granges,  and  equity  societies,  become 
the  patron  saint  of  domestic  science  and  child  culture  for  the 
good  of  the  home,  and  in  fact  become  all  things  to  all  men. 
Such  a  church  must  appeal  to  men.  It  must  satisfy  their 
various  wants  —  social,  ethical,  religious,  cultural ;  for  amuse- 
ment, recreation,  and  sport.  It  must  be  larger  than  sectarian- 
ism, as  catholic  as  human  nature,  and  maintain  the  spirit  and 
ideal  of  social  service  above  that  of  individual  salvation. 
Being  these  things  it  will  be  vital,  vigorous,  and  win  the 
loyal  adherence  of  the  community  it  serves. 

Decadence  of  the  Rural  Church. —  That  the  rural  church 
as  it  exists  to-day  is  unfitted  to  meet  the  demands  of  rural 
communities  seems  to  be  quite  generally  admitted  by  students 
of  rural  sociology.  This  might  be  expected  of  the  rural 
church  when  the  church  generally  is  undergoing  such  whole- 
sale criticism  for  failure  to  adapt  itself  to  the  problems  of 
to-day.  This  general  criticism  must  be  largely  just  because 
so  many  eminent  churchmen  admit  and  express  it.  One  or 
two  typical  opinions  of  the  decadence  and  invalidity  of  the 
country  church  must  stand  as  examples  of  a  larger  volume. 

Rev.  Warren  H.  Wilson,  Superintendent  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Church  and  Country  Life  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
writes : 

"  For  more  than  a  year  it  has  been  my  duty  to  assemble 
the  ministers  and  officers  of  country  churches  at  central  points 
throughout  all  the  older  states  of  the  Union  —  excepting  cer- 
tain southern  states  —  and  to  discuss  with  them  the  condi- 
tions prevailing  among  the  churches.  Generally,  almost 
universally,  these  ministers  and  officers  agree  in  stating  that 
the  country  church  is  losing  its  hold.  They  speak  for  the 


224      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

Protestant  denominations  which  have  a  trained  and  special- 
ised ministry."  1 

Professor  Bailey  gives  this  as  his  opinion: 

"  In  many  places  the  rural  church  has  practically  died  out. 
In  other  places  it  is  very  weak.  Many  have  felt  that  the  use- 
fulness of  the  country  church  is  passing,  ...  is  not  accom- 
plishing what  it  might  for  rural  communities.  This  is  not 
due  to  lack  of  devoted  service  on  the  part  of  the  country  pas- 
tor, but  to  a  need  of  re-direction  in  the  institution.  Con- 
cerned in  too  many  cases  with  technical  religion,  formal  piety, 
small  and  empty  social  duties,  the  country  church  does  not 
appeal  strongly  to  men  with  rich  red  blood  in  their  veins. 
The  hardness  of  the  dogma  is  the  measure  of  sterility.  The 
trouble  is  that  the  rural  church  has  no  organic  connection 
with  the  life  of  the  community,  in  this  regard  being  worse  off 
than  the  school."  2 

The  causes  of  this  decadence  are  important  as  indicating  the 
direction  improvements  must  take.  They  may  be  summarised 
as  follows : 

1.  The  existence  of  a  divided  religious  ministry.  This 
means  sectarianism  in  church  work. 

"  The  country  church  has  been  a  mere  means  for  distrib- 
uting the  hope  of  personal  salvation.  For  this  purpose  it 
did  not  need  to  be,  in  the  judgment  of  former  generations,  a 
socially  effective  organisation.  Any  small  group  of  believers 
has  been  at  liberty  to  build  a  meeting-house  and  maintain  an 
organisation.  National  denominations  have  been  all  too  will- 
ing to  support  these  competing  congregations  in  the  country 
community.  We  have,  therefore,  in  almost  all  the  older  states 
too  many  country  churches.  .  .  .  We  recently  discovered  in 
Pennsylvania  a  farming  region  in  which  within  a  radius  of 
four  miles  from  a  given  point  there  are  twenty-four  country 

i  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  March,  1911,  p.  688. 
2L.  H.  Bailey,  "The  Training  of  Farmers,"  p.  77;  and  "The  State 
and  the  Farmer,"  p.  132. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  225 

churches ;  within  a  three-mile  radius  from  a  point  half  a  mile 
farther  on  there  are  sixteen  of  these  country  churches.  Of 
course  this  is  an  impossible  social  situation.  Whatever  be 
its  doctrinal  value,  it  is  a  form  of  social  inefficiency."  3 

In  an  Illinois  village  of  200  inhabitants,  a  few  years 
since,  there  were  fourteen  churches  in  the  place.  It  was  im- 
possible to  support  these  churches  either  as  to  membership 
or  finances.  Indifference  resulted  from  so  many  faiths. 

2.  A  lack  of  adaptation  to  modern  conditions,  to  scientific 
intelligence,  and  particularly  to  agricultural  needs.  It  needs 
spiritualising  and  socialising. 

"  It  should  express  and  encourage  the  natural  inspiration 
that  may  be  made  to  flow  from  the  common  affairs  and  prac- 
tices of  any  agricultural  community.  .  .  .  The  country  sa- 
loon is  open  continually.  The  country  church  ought  also  to 
be  open  continually,  or  at  least  it  ought  to  have  a  continual 
personal  contact  with  its  people;  and  this  contact  must  be 
much  more  than  through  customary  religious  work."  4 

It  fails  to  reach  and  satisfy  the  social  needs  of  modern  agri- 
cultural communities  in  competition  with  near-by  urban 
groups.  With  the  growing  indifference  to  polemics,  to  argu- 
mentative discourses  in  support  of  the  denominational  or  sec- 
tarian position  as  to  the  exact  mode  of  baptism,  the  order  of 
conversion,  regeneration,  and  justification,  the  procession  of 
the  triune  person,  the  existence  of  a  devil  and  eternal  real 
fire  for  sinners,  preachers  have  been  trying  to  adjust  them- 
selves to  their  congregations.  Their  doctrines  have  become 
vague,  indefinite,  and  unsatisfactory  on  certain  essential  doc- 
trinal points.  They  have  engaged  in  diluted  abstractions 
instead  or  waded  into  a  sea  of  sociological  problems  for  which 
they  have  had  no  training.  Whether  the  preacher  treated 
doctrinal  differences,  dealt  in  vague  abstractions,  or  gave  al- 
lopathic doses  of  undigested  sociological  information,  his  ef- 
forts were  alike  unsatisfactory. 

a  Wilson,  op.  cit.  *  Bailey,  op.  cit.,  pp.  77  and  133. 


226      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

3.  The  attraction  of  the  churches  in  near-by  cities  and  vil- 
lages has  been  a  factor  in  rural  church  decline.     Larger  and 
more  finely  furnished  buildings,  a  choir  and  better  music,  a 
higher  salaried  and  superior  preacher,  the  dress  and  manners 
of  the  urban  populace,  are  some  of  the  attractions  which  have 
taken  the  young  people  away  from  the  neighbourhood  meet- 
ing-house. 

4.  There  has  been  a  growing  inferiority  of  country  pastors. 
Salaries  are  low  in  the  country.     Life  is  more  comfortable  in 
the   cities.     There   are  more  privileges   and   opportunities. 
Hence  the  abler  and  more  highly  educated  men  are  drafted 
off  to  city  churches,  leaving  men  with  undeveloped  talents  and 
narrow,  traditional  views  to  rural  churches. 

5.  The  great  social  and  economic  changes  of  the  age  have 
affected  country  churches.     The  telephone  and  the  rural  mail 
have  introduced  rural  inhabitants  to   social   opportunities, 
broken  into  the  isolation,  and  deprived  the  meeting-house  of 
its  prestige  of  affording  the  only  chance  for  adult  intercourse. 
Better  roads,  improved  vehicles,  trolley  lines,  and  automobiles 
have  made  the  near-by  and  even  somewhat  distant  cities  ac- 
cessible.    Railroads  which  have  been  spread  like  a  net  work 
over  the  land  have  caused  villages  and  cities  to  spring  up 
every  few  miles.     The  open-country  church  has  failed  to  sus- 
tain itself  in  competition  with  the  larger  attractions  of  these 
places.     Here  farmers  resort  at  the  age  of  retirement,  chil- 
dren attend  school  and  form  social  attachments,  and  the  su- 
perior churches  have  drawing  power. 

Population  has  become  migratory  in  rural  regions,  a  study 
of  interstate  migrations  is  sufficient  to  attest  this.  Shifting 
land  values  by  reason  of  the  opening  up  of  new  lands,  the 
development  of  cities,  mines,  forests,  and  railways  have  caused 
a  great  ebb  and  flow  in  population  which  has  done  much  to 
unsettle  church  membership  and  sap  the  support  of  the  rural 
church.  The  tenant  or  renter  system  has  developed  in  many 
states.  It  is  difficult  for  the  country  church  to  find  support 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  227 

and  a  lay  leadership  in  the  face  of  inhabitants  who  feel  no  re- 
sponsibility for  keeping  up  the  social  and  moral  life  of  the 
community. 

Methods  of  Improving  the  Churches. —  A  consideration  of 
the  causes  of  arrested  development  or  decadence  of  the  country 
church  has  furnished  the  suggestions  for  its  improvement. 
The  statement  of  causes  has  been  a  negative  statement  of 
methods  of  betterment.  Together  with  the  statement  of  the 
functions  of  the  country  church,  they  form  an  approximate 
formulation  for  advance.  A  brief  positive  synthetic  presenta- 
tion will  make  the  idea  of  what  is  needed  more  vivid. 

1.  The  country  church  must  be  given  a  modern  leader  in 
the  person  of  its  preacher.  Mr.  Wilson,  who  holds  a  posi- 
tion of  authoritative  expert  in  rural  church  matters  writes : 

"  Behind  the  country  churches  stand  the  theological  sem- 
inaries ;  professional  schools,  founded  and  established  for  the 
training  of  ministers;  originally  country  ministers.  At  the 
present  time  these  schools,  with  almost  no  exception  are  ren- 
dering an  entirely  inadequate  service.  More  than  inadequate : 
it  is  misplaced  and  it  has  the  effect  of  misdirection.  For 
three  years  the  student  of  the  ministry  is  detained  away  from 
the  study  which  he  should  pursue  and  for  a  good  part  of  that 
time  he  is  diligently  trained  in  studies  that  he  ought  never  to 
follow.  The  country  community,  therefore,  is  a  field,  in  the 
case  of  most  ministers,  for  original  investigation  —  untrained, 
amateur,  and  unsystematic  investigation  —  in  which  he  has 
no  help  from  those  appointed  to  be  his  helpers  and  his  leaders. 
.  .  .  My  thesis  then  is  a  plea  for  economic  and  social  train- 
ing of  rural  leaders ;  especially  for  country  ministers.  If  this 
work  is  not  done  by  the  seminaries  it  should  be  undertaken  by 
the  universities.  The  5  president  of  this  society  has  a  weekly 
class,  attended  by  more  theological  students,  so  far  as  I  am 
informed,  than  meets  in  any  seminary  of  theology."  6 

5  Professor  Franklin  H.  Giddings,  Columbia  University,  New  York. 
« American  Journal  of  Sociology,  March,  1911,  p.  692. 


228      CONSTKUCTIVE  KUKAL  SOCIOLOGY 

The  social  and  economic  training  alluded  to  should  give  (a) 
a  systematic  account  of  society  so  that  the  great  principles  and 
laws  of  the  larger  modern  social  world  as  affecting  the  rural 
community  may  be  understood,  (b)  The  special  industrial 
and  social  nature  and  conditions  of  agricultural  regions,  (c) 
The  functions  which  a  church  may  rightfully  perform  and 
which  it  should  undertake  for  such  communities,  (d)  How 
to  make  a  sociological  investigation  or  study  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, which  shall  not  only  be  a  religious  canvass  of  the  dis- 
trict, but  which  shall  take  in  the  vital  conditions  of  age,  sex, 
nationalities,  wealth,  occupation,  social  status,  dependent, 
defective,  and  delinquent  factors,  education,  and  social  organ- 
isations. 

2.  The  church  must  be  socialised.  This  means  to  adapt  it 
to  the  needs  of  the  times  and  place.  Enough  has  been  said  in 
our  earlier  consideration  of  the  church  as  to  what  may  be 
done.  In  case  the  church  cannot  become  a  social  service 
church  every  pastor  may  become  a  social  service  pastor. 

"  There  are  some  things  the  church  cannot  do ;  there  is 
nothing  it  may  not  through  its  pastor  inspire.  There  are 
some  uses  to  which  the  country  church  cannot  be  put;  there 
are  no  uses  to  which  the  country  pastor  may  not  be  put.  .  .  . 
The  pastor  ought  to  be  an  authority  on  social  salvation  as  well 
as  on  personal  salvation.  .  .  .  He  is  relatively  a  fixture.  He 
is  less  transient  than  the  teacher."  Hence  he  is  the  logical 
leader  in  community  affairs.7 

There  are  several  instances  of  socialised  rural  churches. 
One  instance  will  be  reproduced  here. 

"  At  Plainfield,  Illinois,  is  a  very  notable  country  church, 
in  which,  under  the  leadership  of  a  man  of  independent  genius, 
the  church  has  become  the  social  centre  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. In  this  instance  the  farmers  have  felt  no  need  of 
economic  leadership.  They  are  still  tilling  a  fertile  soil,  and 
before  its  fertility  is  exhausted  the  newer  agriculture  will 

f  Butterfield,  "  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  pp.  177-9. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  229 

doubtless  enable  them  to  maintain  their  place.  But  the 
church  in  the  community  has  undertaken  the  social  cultiva- 
tion of  the  people.  It  has  assembled  the  young  people  for 
musical,  theatrical,  and  athletic  enjoyment  and  training.  The 
church  edifice  has  been  rebuilt ;  and  instead  of  one  room  for 
worship  only,  the  building  now  contains  a  gymnasium,  din- 
ing-room, cloakrooms  for  men  and  women,  and  a  rest-room 
for  mothers  with  babies  in  their  arms,  young  people's  social 
parlour,  study,  and  numerous  classrooms  for  use  in  religious 
training  of  various  groups.  The  success  of  this  church  has 
been  in  satisfying  the  social  needs  of  the  community.  It  has 
had  to  compete  with  granges  and  social  clubs  and  has  sur- 
vived where  they  have  failed.  This  church  itself  has  grown 
in  membership,  and  in  moral  and  spiritual  power,  with  the 
social  culture  which  it  has  imparted  to  the  community."  8 

3.  Union  and  cooperation  should  be  substituted  for  sec- 
tarian divisiveness.  There  is  ecclesiastical,  economic,  and 
social  waste  from  the  present  system.  Churches  need  federa- 
tion in  order  to  survive.  They  must  have  it  to  do  the  needed 
work.  It  would  be  an  agency  to  unify  the  community  so- 
cially. By  statistical  cooperation  the  various  churches  may 
arrive  at  a  clear  conception  of  the  field  confronting  them,  and 
enter  upon  an  effective  division  of  labour.  All  students  of 
rural  matters  who  believe  that  the  church  has  a  service  to 
perform  for  the  country  advocate  federal  cooperation. 

The  churches  in  the  foreign  mission  field  are  setting  an 
example  in  this  direction.  The  field  is  districted  into  spheres 
of  work  and  each  denomination  is  allotted  a  distinct  field. 
Some  approach  is  being  made  to  this  in  home  mission  work. 
Certain  denominations  have  a  working  agreement  not  to  in- 
trude into  each  other's  territory  in  duplicating  churches,  and 
are  uniting  or  allotting  activities  in  an  overchurched  district. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.9 —  It  is  legitimate 

*  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  March,  1911,  p.  685. 

»  Since  this  was  written  "  Rural  Work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 


230      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

to  treat  this  organisation  under  the  term  church,  since  the 
general  term  church  stands  for  all  religious  agencies.  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  a  well  known  and  established  institution  in 
city  religious  and  educational  work.  It  has  begun  rural  work 
so  recently  that  it  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  just  conception  of 
its  activities. 

The  plan  generally  followed  consists  of  an  initiation  of  the 
movement  by  the  State  Committee,  a  campaign  for  funds  by 
a  County  Committee,  a  county  organising  convention,  the 
election  of  a  county  board,  and  the  selection  of  a  county  sec- 
retary. The  secretary  organises  local  groups  or  clubs,  the  in- 
tention being  to  place  one  within  easy  walking  distance  of 
every  boy  in  the  country.  These  locals  have  their  volunteer 
leaders  and  officers.  Where  possible  club  buildings  are 
erected.  The  work  is  thus  made  intensive.  Orange  County, 
California,  has  two  such  community  buildings.  "  These 
buildings  are  bungalow  style,  having  class  rooms,  club  rooms, 
and  kitchen  facilities.  A  large  playground  in  the  rear  of 
each  affords  splendid  opportunity  for  outdoor  games,  and  in 
both  cases  these  buildings  and  playgrounds  have  become  the 
centre  of  boy  life  in  these  communities." 

With  the  growth  of  the  movement  it  is  expected  that  county 
officers  other  than  the  secretary  will  be  employed,  such  as 
physical  directors  and  social  centre  directors.  At  present 
the  activities  are  those  which  local  volqfrteer  conditions  will 
permit:  Bible  classes,  social  meetings,  feasts,  Boy  Scout  or- 
ganisations and  work,  camps,  entertainments,  and  kindred 
enterprises.  The  play  tendencies  and  rights  of  boys  are  recog- 
nised and  given  their  appropriate  exercise.  Lessons  in  health 
and  hygiene  naturally  go  along  with  the  physical  work.  In 
one  small  community  one-third  of  the  school  boys  were,  upon 
examination,  found  to  have  a  tobacco  heart  induced  by  use 

Association,"  by  A.  E.  Roberts  and  Henry  Israel,  appeared  in  the  Annals 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  March,  1912, 
giving  a  more  adequate  account  of  county  work. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  231 

of  pipes  and  cigarettes.  A  donation  of  pipes  resulted  and 
boys  and  parents  alike  were  made,  at  least  temporarily,  more 
serious  minded.  Travelling  exhibits  by  stereopticon  of  tuber- 
culosis and  other  diseases,  with  lectures  by  local  physicians 
are  promoted.  Encouragement  of  cooperation  on  the  part  of 
rural  institutions  for  community  improvement  is  given. 
Country  fairs  have  been  cleansed  and  reforms  undertaken. 
Christian  life  and  morals  receive  initiation  and  stimulus. 
Country  churches  are  assisted.  Such  are  some  of  the  achieve- 
ments of  County  Work  organisations. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  conducts  summer  schools  for  County  Work 
at  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin,  Silver  Bay,  New  York,  and  Estes 
Park,  Colorado.  Over  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  entire  force 
employed  have  attended  summer  meetings. 

This  Y.  M.  C.  A.  movement  is  seen  to  be  comprehensive, 
alert,  vigorous,  and  practical.  Much  is  to  be  hoped  from 
it.  Says  Hon.  C.  C.  James  of  Ottawa,  Canada : 

"  The  rural  manhood  branch  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  to  my 
mind  the  most  important,  it  is  the  most  promising,  it  enters 
a  field  that  is  unlimited  in  opportunity,  and  from  the  results 
that  we  are  getting  in  work  with  our  farmers'  clubs  I  believe 
it  will  grow  rapidly.10 

10  The  files  of  Rural  Manhood  furnished  the  material  for  this  section. 

REFERENCES 

Bailey.  "The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  pp.  17  and  132-5;  and  "The 
Training  of  the  Farmer,"  pp.  76-7. 

Butterfield.  "Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  Chap.  12;  and  "Co- 
operation and  Integration  of  Community  Institutions,"  Rural  Manhood, 
June,  1911,  pp.  190-1;  and  "The  Rural  Church." 

Wilson,  Warren  H.  "  The  Church  and  the  Rural  Community,"  Amer- 
ican Journal  of  Sociology,  March,  1911,  pp.  668-93. 

Discussion  of  the  same  by  E.  C.  Hayes.  Same,  pp.  693-5;  by  J.  L. 
Gillin,  pp.  696-700;  and  by  T.  N.  Carver,  pp.  700-702. 

Henderson,  C.  R.     Unpublished  syllabus  on  "  Rural  Communities." 

Lander,  E.  B.  "The  Reconstruction  of  the  Country  Church,"  Rural 
Manhood,  February,  1911,  pp.  52-54. 

Armstrong,  Rev.  H.  P.    "  The  Story  of  Middle  Creek,"  same,  pp.  54-7. 


J232      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

Small,  Charles  H.  "  The  Country  Church  in  Ohio,"  Congregationalist, 
August  19,  1905. 

Taylor,  Graham.  "  Rural  Regeneration  and  the  Country  Church," 
same,  October  3,  1908. 

"How  Churches  in  Ohio  are  Lagging,"  Ohio  Journal  of  Commerce, 
October  26,  1912,  p.  131. 

Hagerman,  J.  P.  "The  History  of  County  Work  in  California," 
Rural  Manhood,  Vol.  II,  pp.  67-70. 

Weidensall,  Robert.  "The  County  Field  Work  of  a  County  Secre- 
tary," same,  February,  1911,  pp.  48-9. 

James,  Hon.  C.  C.     "  Canada's  Rural  Progress,"  same,  p.  101. 

Wallace,  Henry.  "To  Clean  a  County  Fair  a  Social  Service,"  same, 
pp.  83-4. 

Hetherington,  C.  W.     "  Play  for  the  Country  Boy,"  same,  pp.  139-42. 

Brown,  Dr.  John.  "  A  Place  to  Swim  in  Every  Rural  Community 
and  Every  Boy  a  Swimmer,"  same,  pp.  155-6. 

Atkinson,  O.  E.  "  Policy  and  Duties  of  a  County  Sub-Committee," 
same,  pp.  159-60. 

Israel,  Henry.  "  Summer  Training  Centres  for  County  Work,"  same, 
pp.  192-4. 

Weidensall,  Robert.  "The  Township  or  Precinct  Organisation  Terri- 
tory," same,  p.  195. 

"  Things  that  are  Doing  in  County  Work,"  same,  monthly  reports. 

"Conference  of  Rural  Social  Workers,"  Survey,  August  26,  1911,  pp. 
747-9. 

Hartt,  R.  L.  "  The  Regeneration  of  Rural  New  England  Religions," 
Outlook,  March  17,  1900,  p.  628  ff. 


CHAPTEE  XVI 

SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS    (CONTINUED)  ADJUSTMENT  OP  EDU- 
CATION   TO    RURAL,   NEEDS 

The  consideration  of  education  is  the  most  important  mat- 
ter in  modern  life.  Present-day  civilisation  is  built  upon 
intellectual  attainments.  The  matter  and  methods  of  science 
rest  beneath  our  chief est  social  structures.  Minds  immersed 
in  ignorance,  sluggish  in  their  action  or  clouded  with  the 
vestiges  of  past  superstitions  are  unfitted  to  do  the  work  of 
their  age.  The  schools  of  the  land  are  the  agencies  of  in- 
culcating that  enlightenment  on  which  both  conservation  and 
progress  depend  and  on  their  successful  operation  hangs  the 
destiny  of  the  future.  To  make  them  qualified  and  efficient 
should  be  the  highest  aim  of  good  citizens.  Kural  schools 
and  rural  education  as  portions  of  our  educational  agencies 
share  in  this  regard.  The  more  outstanding  features  will  re- 
ceive consideration. 

In  order  to  face  the  matter  squarely  so  that  we  may  see  the 
strength  and  the  weakness  of  our  system  of  training  for  coun- 
try life,  it  will  be  best  to  view  the  demands  which  press  upon 
rural  education. 

General  Sociological  Demands. —  Certain  demands  of  a 
general  nature  are  common  to  both  rural  and  urban  education. 
We  may  call  them  sociological  because  only  will  sociological 
consideration  reveal  them.  Social  conditions  are  the  closest 
and  most  dominant  environment  of  modern  men.  We  depend 
more  immediately  on  institutions  and  social  agencies  to  supply 
our  wants  than  on  nature.  Nature  is  ultimate.  If  she  fails, 
social  beings  die.  But,  other  things  being  equal,  we  reach 
her  through  and  by  means  of  artificial  structures.  The  f  arm- 

233 


234      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

er  does  this  also,  as  we  saw  in  Chapter  2.  Hence  it  is 
coming  to  be  recognised  that  it  is  by  a  study  of  these  chang- 
ing, developing,  external  social  conditions  that  the  future  of 
the  individual  and  the  nature  of  his  education  are  to  be  dis- 
covered. The  general  sociological  demands  are  the  follow- 
ing: 

1.  The  particular  age  and  place  impose  their  own  condi- 
tions.    First,  the  age  has  a  spirit  or  certain  dominating  inter- 
ests which  cannot  be  avoided.     One  of  these  interests  is  the 
scientific.     Accurate  knowledge  and  methods  of  procedure 
have  entered  into  all  developed  processes  of  life  and  are  forcing 
themselves  upon  others.     Industrial  processes  are  founded 
on  the  various  sciences.     Chemistry  lies  at  the  basis  of  prep- 
aration and  preservation  of  foods,  which  a  competent  house- 
wife should  know;  and  beneath  a  knowledge  of  soils,  which 
the  farmer  should  have. 

Second,  the  region  or  particular  kind  of  community,  im- 
poses its  demands.  Communities  are  differentiated  by  means 
of  their  interests.  They  may  be  mining,  stock-raising,  agri- 
cultural, industrial,  commercial.  As  such  their  pursuits, 
aims,  activities,  agencies,  and  matters  of  knowledge  are  dif- 
ferent. The  community  business  or  interest  determines  the 
kind  of  vocational  training  an  individual  should  have. 

Ninety  or  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  population  will  either 
remain  in  the  community  they  are  born  and  reared  in,  or 
will  remove  to  a  similar  community,  one  with  similar  inter- 
ests. The  dominant  pursuits  of  a  region  may  determine 
what  the  pupils  should  be  trained  for  without  doing  an  in- 
justice to  any.  If  this  plan  is  not  followed  an  injustice  is 
done  to  a  large  majority. 

2.  Specialisation  to  meet  differing  demands  of  a  highly 
organised   society   is   required.     That    society   has   evolved 
from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  from  a  stage  of  hardly  any 
specialised  functions  to  one  of  thousands,  cannot  be  doubted. 
That  the  process  of  differentiation  is  continuing  is  a  well- 


EUEAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  235 

established  fact.  This  means  that  we  are  living  in  an  age 
when  specialisation  is  necessary  to  success.  If  one  is  to  be 
master  of  his  fortune  he  must  be  master  of  his  business.  So- 
ciety imposes  a  responsibility  here.  It  demands  that  the 
person  must  not  steal  his  living,  else  he  will  be  imprisoned; 
that  he  shall  support  himself  legally,  or  he  will  be  called  a 
pauper.  It  asks  that  he  shall  harness  himself  into  some  one 
of  its  specialties,  make  a  success  of  it,  or  else  be  a  floating 
day-labourer  or  a  parasite.  The  educational  process,  there- 
fore, must  involve  a  considerable  degree  of  specialisation  or 
vocationalisation. 

3.  The  social  situation  requires  of  men  an  intelligence  as 
to  public  matters  and  a  profound  love  of  community  welfare. 
Society  is  growing  democratic.     The  people  are  demanding 
greater  measures  of  control  of  government.     They  must  con- 
sequently have  a  larger  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  com- 
plicated mechanism  they  are  to  direct  and  a  deeper  devo- 
tion to  its  interests.     If  democracy  is  to  prevail  and  make 
progress,  an  enlightened  public  mind  on  matters  of  state 
must  exist.     This  calls  for  emphasis  on  social  study  in  the 
schools.     The  nature  of  community  life,  as  sociology  reveals 
it,  is  involved.     Economics  and  civics  demand  accentuation. 
These  must  be  taught  earlier  and  with  a  view  to  imparting  a 
sympathetic  insight  and  understanding  of  society  and  social 
problems. 

A  greater  degree  of  self-government  should  take  place  in 
the  schools.  One-man  rule  is  poor  preparation  for  self-di- 
rection. Absolutism  is  not  a  training  for  democracy.  The 
general  or  community  interest  will  not  arouse  affection  if  the 
individual's  interest  and  sense  of*"justice  is  never  put  into 
operation  in  relation  to  it.  Moralisation  of  our  citizenship 
depends  on,  among  other  things,  a  participation  during  the 
school  period  in  weighing  and  deciding  matters  of  dispute 
and  infringement  of  rules. 

4.  Democracy  in  education  requires  that  the  needs  of  the 


236      COSTSTKTJCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

masses  should  be  met.  We  have  educated  for  the  few  and 
disregarded  the  many.  The  talented  and  the  leisure  class 
rather  than  the  average,  were  in  mind  when  courses  of  study 
were  organised.  Tradition  commonly  ruled  and  the  burden 
of  what  had  been  useful  laid  its  hand  heavily  on  the  present, 
crowding  out  the  useful  and  the  near. 

Over  95  per  cent,  of  the  social  energy  of  the  nation  is  di- 
rectly devoted  to  matters  of  getting  a  living.1  Consequently 
a  knowledge  of  the  technical  processes  and  skill,  on  which 
this  life  activity  is  based,  must  have  a  very  large  recognition 
in  the  schools. 

Again,  probably  less  than  40  per  cent,  of  the  children  of 
the  United  States  advance  in  education  beyond  the  eighth 
grade,  and  about  50  per  cent,  are  eliminated  from  the 
schools  by  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  grade.  This  means 
that  education  must  be  useful  and  practical  before  all  else; 
that  what  is  to  be  done  for  individuals  to  equip  them  to 
carry  on  their  life  business  competently  must  be  dene  for 
them  in  the  elementary  schools.  The  best  interests  of  the 
majority  demand  this.  It  is  not  a  whim  nor  a  fad;  it  is 
justice. 

I.    BUBAL    SCHOOLS 

Deficiencies  of  Rural  Schools. —  The  public  school  system 
is  often  referred  to  as  the  grandest  educational  system  of  the 
world.  It  certainly  is  a  remarkable  scheme  for  socialising 
the  young  individual.  Yet  our  schools,  and  particularly  the 
rural  schools,  are  open  to  criticism. 

1.  They  are  wasteful.  The  scattered  condition  of  the  in- 
habitants has  often  made  it  necessary  to  place  a  very  few 
pupils  in  a  single  school.  In  Virginia  a  few  years  since  there 
were  150  schools  that  had  six  pupils  or  less.  In  the  state  of1 
Maine  in  1892  there  were  more  than  1,000  schools  with  an 
average  attendance  per  school  of  12  pupils  or  less.  The 

iSec  the  Author's  "Vocational  Education,"  pp.  109-112,  where  the 
computation  is  made. 


RUEAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  237 

superintendent   of  that   state  indicated  that  800   of  these 

schools   could   be   abolished   with   advantage.  Other   states 
have  reported  as  bad  or  worse  conditions. 

Eecent  investigations  in  North  Dakota  reveal  similar  con- 
ditions.    Table  26  indicates  this  situation. 

TABLE  XXH  2 

COMPARATIVE  STATEMENT  OF  AVERAGE  DAILY  ATTENDANCE  IN  RURAL 

SCHOOLS 

Number  of  Per 

Size  of  School                   Schools  Cent. 

Four  or   less 152  3.9 

Five.. 176  4.5 

Six   217  5.5 

Seven   269  6.7 

Eight   329  8.3 

Nine     343  8.7 

Ten     400  10.1 

Total  of  10  or  less 1,888  47.7 

Eleven    295  7.5 

Twelve  268  6.9 

Twelve  to  15 605  15.2 

Fifteen  to  20 560  14.5 

Over  20   .                                                    336  8.5 


Totals    3,951  100.0 

Average  square  miles  to  each  school 15.6 

The  fact  is  evident  that  within  certain  limits,  a  large 
school,  say  of  fifty  pupils,  can  be  maintained  at  the  same 
relative  expense  as  can  a  school  of  five.  The  teacher  and  the 
fuel  are  the  chief  elements  of  expense. 

The  same  investigation  into  North  Dakota  conditions  af- 
fords us  a  view  of  the  relative  expense  of  smaller  and  larger 
schools.  Table  27  presents  the  facts. 

2.  Rural  schools  fail  to  educate  in  view  of  the  surround- 
ings. The  business  demands  of  agriculture  are  ignored, 
home-making  and  child  culture  have  no  place,  consideration 

2  "  Problem  of  the  Rural  School."    N.  C.  Abbot,  North  Dakota  Teach- 
ers' Bulletin,  March,  1911,  p.  2. 


238       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

'TABLE  XXIII 

DETAILS   ON    SCHOOL  EXPENDITURES 


Averages  based  on 
Actual  Attendance 

State 
as  a 
Whole 

Cities 
and 
Villages 

Rural 
Dis- 
tricts 

Village 
Consol. 
Schools 

Rural 
Consol. 
School 

Annual  cost  of  tuition  .... 

42.44 

41.94 

41.54 

58.63 

57.14 

Annual  cost  for  teachers  .  . 

27.74 

28.41 

31.07 

21.31 

20.88 

Annual  cost  for  school  offi- 
cers     

1.55 

.49 

3.43 

.79 

1.95 

Annual  cost  for  incidentals 

13.08 

13.04 

7.03 

12.13 

8.97 

Daily  cost  of  tuition  based 
on  attendance   .       .  .    .  ' 

289     i 

22.8 

30.3 

30.0 

34.7 

Average    number    of    days 
school  per  pupil   .... 

946 

1608 

700 

1  39 

1  05 

of  the  community  problems  is  absent,  and  the  peculiar  social 
and  recreational  needs  of  country  neighbourhoods  find  slight 
recognition. 

3.  There  is  lack  of  stimulus  among  the  pupils  of  the  coun- 
try schools  on  account  of  their  small  number.     Competition 
enters  into  the  life  of  education.     A  class  of  12  to  20  will 
make  more  progress  than  one  of  five  or  less,  because  the  mem- 
bers stimulate  each  other  to  greater  effort. 

4.  The  school  term  is  too  short  to  do  good  work.     This 
tends  towards  the  deterioration  of  schools  both  because  it 
fails  to  advance  the  pupils  as  they  should  advance  and  it 
affords  a  very  small  inducement  to  capable  teachers  to  carry 
on  the  teaching.     Six  or  seven  months  a  year  with  only  a 
moderate  monthly  salary  is  not  a  large  attraction  for  capable 
young  men  and  women. 

5.  In  many  of  the  states  the  rural  schools  are  conducted 
by  teachers  who  are  inefficient.     They  often  teach  as  an  ap- 
pendage to  other  businesses.     Or,  more  frequently,  the  young 
woman  teaches  only  until  her  marriage. 

The  training  of  the  teachers  is  insufficient.     Many  of  the 
teachers  in  rural  schools  were  but  recently  pupils  of  the 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  239 

schools  which  they  themselves  teach.  They  start  in  witK 
barely  enough  knowledge  to  get  the  lowest  grade  certificate, 
with  scant  knowledge  of  methods,  aims  of  education,  or  na- 
ture of  the  child.  Information  from  22  counties  and  16 
cities  of  North  Dakota  corroborates  the  statement.  The  per- 
centage of  teachers  in  the  elementary  schools  of  the  22  coun- 
ties who  do  not  have  the  equivalent  of  a  high  school  training, 
none  being  college  or  normal  graduates,  varies  from  5  to  80 
per  cent. 

Of  the  262  grade  teachers  of  16  of  the  larger  cities  of  the 
state  reported  upon,  250  are  either  normal  or  college  grad- 
uates, and  7  more  are  high  school  graduates.3 

6.  The  rural  schoolhouses  are  inadequate.  There  should 
be  a  place  that  is  fitted  to  be  a  social  centre.  At  present 
there  are  few  such  suitable  buildings  in  the  country.  The 
schoolhouses  are  small  and  ill  suited  for  such  purposes. 
They  are  poorly  built,  have  little  or  no  ventilation,  and  are 
often  badly  located.  They  also  fail  to  afford  the  rooms 
which  the  equipment  and  facilities  for  vocational  training 
of  boys  and  girls  for  the  farm  and  home  require. 

Particular  Demands  of  the  Country. —  What  was  said  in 
the  two  preceding  sections  will  serve  as  a  background  for 
the  special  demands  on  education  which  rural  regions  make. 
Modern  demands  as  profoundly  grip  rural  as  urban  inhab- 
itants, though  they  are  less  intrusive  and  conspicuous.  Some 
particulars  of  these  requirements  may  be  given. 

1.  Scientific  agriculture  should  be  an  intimate  part  of 
the  educational  curriculum.  This  must  be  taken  in  its  larger 
sense  as  including  the  topics  we  have  treated  previously. 
Farm  management,  crop  and  animal  production,  farm  me- 
chanics, construction  and  arrangement  of  buildings,  appre- 
ciation of  the  conveniences  and  utilities  on  the  farm  and  in 
the  home,  an  understanding  of  the  conditions  of  cleanliness 

s  "  Is  the  Country  Child  Getting  a  Square  Deal,"  Arland  D.  Weeks,— 
The  Extension,  Agricultural  College  of  N.  Dak.,  April,  1909,  p.  4. 


240       CONSTKUCTIVE  KUBAL  SOCIOLOGY 

and  health,  and  an  inculcation  of  ideals  of  taste  and  beauty ; 
are  some  of  the  prominent  subjects  which  demand  attention. 
Good  farming,  good  homes,  and  good  neighbourhoods  are 
dependent  on  their  comprehension.  The  problem  is  to  get 
these  things  understood  by  the  masses.  All  the  agencies  now 
at  work  —  agricultural  colleges,  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture,  agricultural  high  schools,  experiment  stations, 
extension  work,  and  farmers'  institutes  —  are  hardly  touch- 
ing the  masses.  Only  an  occasional  farmer  and  farmer's 
son  get  the  light. 

As  a  factor  in  this  enlightenment  the  use  of  agricultural 
reports  and  bulletins  are  important.  The  average  farmer 
does  not  use  the  splendid  literature  which  our  government 
and  the  agricultural  colleges  send  out  to  him.  He  is  not 
fitted  to  read  them  and  does  not  know  how  to  obtain  and  to 
preserve  them.  Probably  -  many  of  the  bulletins  are  too 
technically  written.  But  the  schools  have  a  task  to  perform 
in  teaching  the  more  mature  children  how  to  cooperate  with 
government  bureaus  and  agricultural  institutions  as  to  the 
use  and  the  preservation  of  certain  of  the  more  practical 
and  helpful  literature. 

2.  Domestic  science  must  be  taught  to  the  daughters  of 
farmers.  The  high  schools  and  elementary  schools  are  re- 
sponsible for  giving  women  of  the  cities  an  equipment  for 
conducting  homes  on  a  more  economical  and  scientific  basis. 
Welfare,  happiness  and  health  of  the  home  demand  this. 
The  task  is  being  assumed  by  urban  education.  It  is  also 
recognised  that  this  training  must  be  given  in  the  grades, 
as  most  of  the  girls  go  no  farther  with  their  schooling. 

It  is  unquestioned  that  the  girls  of  the  country  stand  in 
need  of  such  training,  and  that  they  have  a  right  to  it.  Per- 
haps they  participate  in  household  work  more  than  do  their 
urban  sisters  and  consequently  know  more  of  the  current  tra- 
ditional household  economy.  There  may  be  many  excellent 
housekeepers  in  the  country,  but  the  fact  remains  that  it 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  241 

sustains  about  as  general  a  lack  of  improved  housekeeping 
methods  as  the  city. 

The  latest  and  most  up-to-date  farm  machinery  may  be 
found  at  work  in  the  fields,  but  anything  is  regarded  as  good 
enough  for  the  house,  and  improvements  there  are  consid- 
ered as  a  wasted  investment.  The  girls  must  be  educated  to 
better  ways,  to  maintain  their  dignity  and  rights  in  the  home, 
and  to  view  their  work  as  a  social  function  for  which  they 
are  sacredly  and  specifically  set  apart.  The  school  must 
teach  that  the  household  activities  are  on  a  par  with  those 
*of  raising  grain  and  stock.  Home  making,  child-nurture, 
and  child-culture  lie  at  the  basis  of  human  society.  Raising 
grain  and  stock  is  a  means  to  an  end.  It  is  ignorance  which 
permits  it  to  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  object  and  the  home 
as  incidental.  Proper  education  of  both  girls  and  boys  will 
go  far  to  correct  this  distorted  conception. 

Girls  need  practical  training  in  child  raising  quite  as 
much  as  boys  require  teaching  about  agriculture.  Chicago 
schools  are  now  attempting  to  qualify  the  older  children  for 
the  care  of  younger  ones.  Perhaps  psychology  of  a  mature 
sort,  and  the  finer  points  of  child  study,  cannot  be  taught 
to  country  children.  But  a  better  conception  may  be  given 
of  the  requirements  of  motherhood;  of  proper  foods  and 
clothing  for  infants;  of  the  deadliness  of  soothing  syrup 
"  dopes  "  and  other  drugs,  of  the  periods  of  teething  and  the 
stages  of  physical  development ;  of  the  changes  in  the  nature 
of  foods  required  during  the  different  periods  of  infancy; 
and  of  some  insight  into  children's  ways,  interests  and  rights, 
so  that  indirect  methods  of  control  may  supersede  that  of 
government  by  brute  strength. 

3.  Special  attention  to  the  socialisation  of  country  chil- 
dren must  be  given.  This  is  coming  to  be  recognised.  Says 
President  Henry  Smith  Pritchett,  "  The  more  one  considers 
this  whole  question,  the  more  fully  one  is  persuaded  that  the 
problem  of  teaching  the  boy  on  the  farm,  training  him  into 


242      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

a  successful  agent  for  a  new  scientific  business  of  farming 
and  making  him  a  factor  in  the  conservation  of  resources, 
is  inextricably  connected  with  the  larger  problem  of  the  bet- 
terment of  social  and  economic  conditions  of  rural  life."  4 

The  understanding  of  social  and  economic  conditions  is 
not  a  matter  of  light  and  incidental  reading.  The  social 
viewpoint  must  be  embodied  in  the  educational  process  as  a 
matter-of-fact,  constant,  and  integral  factor.  It  must  be  an 
atmosphere  in  which  the  developing  minds  live.  The  social 
outlook  and  impulse  should  become  as  natural  as  the  individ- 
ualistic to  the  developing  child.  The  simplest  phases  of  the 
social  and  economic  problems  of  the  neighbourhood  should 
be  grafted  on  to  the  curriculum.  Some  courses  running 
through  the  elementary  grades,  which  are  called  "  social 
study  "  have  been  outlined.5  These  studies  would  make  chil- 
dren acquainted  with  their  social  environment  and  give  them 
some  appreciation  of  the  conditions,  problems  and  require- 
ments of  community  life.  The  present  volume  contains 
much  of  the  matter  which  this  socialisation  involves. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  this  socialisation  is  also  a  moralisa- 
tion,  for,  as  Professor  Dewey  points  out,  there  is  a  vast 
difference  between  "  moral  ideas  "  and  "  ideas  about  moral- 
ity," and  what  is  now  needed  is  the  former.  "  We  need  to 
translate  the  moral  into  the  conditions  and  forces  of  com- 
munity life,  and  into  the  impulses  and  habits  of  the  in- 
dividual." 6 

School  management  will  constitute  a  part  in  this  process 
of  socialisation.  Self-government  and  self-control  in  school 
affairs  involve  the  principles  which 'are  at  the  foundation  of 
the  larger  community  life.  They  impart  the  attitude  and 
habits  which  will  find  realisation  in  mature  affairs.  Organ- 

*  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Teaching,  p.  106. 

6  Since  this  was  written  North  Dakota  has  placed  such  a  course,  pre- 
pared by  the  writer  in  the  first  six  grades  of  its  elementary  schools. 

«  John  Dewey,  "  Moral  Principles  in  Education,"  pp.  57-58. 


RUKAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  243 

ised  play,  well  conducted  sports  and  games,  and  the  social 
activities  of  the  neighbourhood,  are  also  important  factors. 
Civics  and  history  may  be  made  more  helpful  by  the  elimina- 
tion of  much  extraneous  and  irrelevant  matter  and  the  inclu- 
sion of  matter  of  vital  and  current  moment.7  Discussions  in 
current  events  are  also  vitally  contributive. 

Economic  teaching  of  a  simple,  practical  sort  is  impera- 
tive. Farm  management  and  farmers'  organisations  for 
marketing  the  produce,  principles  of  cooperation  and  its  ad- 
vantages, and  an  understanding  of  the  place  of  agriculture 
among  other  callings  in  society  form  very  essential  topics 
of  discussion.  If  farmers  are  to  organise  and  cooperate  the 
coming  generation  must  be  educated  to  an  appreciation  of  the 
need  and  in  the  principles  and  methods  of  cooperation. 

In  equipping  for  farm  life  the  other  kinds  of  schools  can- 
not reach  the  mass  of  people  who  need  reaching.  All  the 
public  schools  of  the  nation  put  together  hardly  accomplish 
this.  "  In  New  York  State,  for  example,  there  are  some 
fifty-five  agricultural  counties.  If  each  of  these  counties 
had  an  agricultural  high  school  graduating  fifty  pupils  each 
year,  to  give  only  one  boy  from  each  farm  in  the  state  an 
agricultural  course  would  require  eighty-two  years ;  and  new 
generations  are  coming  on  in  the  meantime."  Moreover, 
the  separate  trade  schools  are  likely  to  endanger  the  exist- 
ence of  our  common  schools  from  the  very  fact  that  they 
teach  the  essentials  of  living  better,  will  thrive,  become  dupli- 
cated and  ultimately  exterminate  the  latter.8 

4.  Procuring  a  resident  rural  leadership  is  one  of  the  most 
important  considerations  in  rural  life.  It  is  a  part  of  the 
educational  situation  because  the  schools  must  develop  it. 

(1)  It  is  the  opinion  of  competent  observers  that  there  is  a 
dearth  of  rural  leadership.  "  The  rural  people  are  not  lost ; 

7  See  "  Reconstruction  of  History  for  Teaching  Purposes,"  J.  M.  Gil- 
lette, School  Review,  October,  1909. 

s  Bailey,  "  The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  pp.  154-59. 


244      CONSTRUCTIVE  KURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

they  need  opportunity  and  leadership.  So  far  as  possible 
the  work  should  be  established  in  real  rural  regions,  outside 
the  towns."  9  "  Fundamentally  it  may  be  said  that  the  prob- 
lem of  the  farm  and  of  the  improvement  and  conservation  of 
the  soil  is  clearly  one  of  calling  for  leadership  of  a  high  order. 
...  It  is  more  difficult  to  distribute  the  fruits  of  science,  to 
make  them  effective  instruments  in  the  hands  of  the  great  mul- 
titude, than  it  is  to  win  them  at  first  hand.  How  to  bring  to 
the  rural  population  of  the  United  States  technical  and  finan- 
cial efficiency,  together  with  social  contentment,  is  perhaps 
the  most  difficult  problem  of  our  democracy."  10  The  Coun- 
try Life  Commission  likewise  recognises  the  deficiency. 

Since  country  youths  are  being  educated  in  great  numbers 
in  the  higher  institutions  of  learning  it  might  be  supposed 
that  a  developed  resident  rural  leadership  would  result.  An 
investigation  as  to  what  becomes  of  these  students  and  grad- 
uates led  to  the  conclusion  that  accepting  attendance  upon  a 
long  course  of  instruction  in,  or  graduation  from,  a  normal 
school,  an  agricultural  college,  or  a  university  as  a  sign  of 
leadership,  relatively  little  of  the  products  of  the  normals,  a 
majority  of  those  of  the  actual  farming  courses  of  agricul- 
tural colleges,  and  practically  none  of  the  products  of  the 
universities  whose  origin  was  the  farm,  return  to  farm  life, 
although  a  small  per  cent,  of  those  from  normals  and  uni- 
versities settle  in  semi-urban  communities.11  It  is  thus  seen 
that  the  country  is  being  robbed  of  its  educated  leadership  by 
the  city. 

Nor  is  there  much  hope  that  the  educated  element  from 
these  institutions  can  be  retained  in  the  country.  Universi- 
ties do  not  consider  it  their  problem.  State  normal  schools 
are  doing  something  in  agricultural  training  but  their  grad- 

9  Bailey,  "  The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  p.  87. 

10  Pritchett,  op.  tit.,  p.  107. 

11  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota,  October,  1910, 
p.  76. 


KURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  245 

uates  and  students  do  not  largely  go  into  real  country  work. 
Bona  fide  agricultural  courses  constitute  but  a  fraction  of  the 
educational  effort  of  agricultural  colleges,  at  least  of  those 
independent  of  state  universities.  Of  the  graduates  from 
these  courses  the  far  larger  portion  go  into  government  work, 
experiment  station  work,  teaching  of  agriculture  in  colleges 
and  high  schools,  and  agricultural  publication  work.  The 
situation  does  not  promise  to  change  within  many  years. 
We  must  expect  a  supply  of  leaders  from  some  other  direc- 
tion. 

(2)  A  consideration  of  the  necessity  for  a  leadership  in 
society  generally  indicates  its  importance  in  rural  affairs. 
It  is  an  established  sociological  teaching  that  the  vast  ma- 
jo/ity  of  people  are  imitators,  not  originators.     They  are 
thus  conservers  of  what  already  exists  rather  than  creators 
of  new  methods  and  conditions.     The  problem  of  civilisation 
is  to  develop  a  larger  proportion  of  inventors  and  talented 
individuals.     Potentially,  there  is  a  far  larger  proportion 
of  able  men  and  women  than  is  commonly  supposed.     But 
they  are  undeveloped  in  ability  and  remain  inert  and  unpro- 
ductive.    Even  good  imitators,  individuals  who  know  what 
is  being  done  in  society  elsewhere  and  who  are  able  to  get 
it  done  in  their  own  community  are  relatively  rare.     The 
problem  of  the  country  is,  therefore,  to  educate  a  greater 
proportion  of  the  "  born  "  talented  into  creators  and  origina- 
tors ;  and  to  train  a  larger  number  of  "  born  "  imitators  up 
to  a  stage  of  intelligent  appreciation  of  community  welfare 
work,  and  of  leadership  in  realising  it  in  their  own  com- 
munity. 

(3)  Rural  progress  calls   for  leadership.     A  rapid  im- 
provement awaits  the  development  of  an  intelligent  resident 
rural  leadership.     Good  farmers  who  are  successful  in  farm 
management  will  be  called  on  to  arouse  others  and  show  the 
way.     Those  who  know  j^est  how  to  raise  grain  or  cattle 
must  be  depended  on  to  lead  in  inciting  others  thereto.     If 


246      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

prices  of  produce  are  to  be  raised  and  cost  of  commodities 
purchased  are  to  be  lowered  through  cooperation  some  larger 
spirit  must  take  the  initiative.  If  churches  are  to  be  im- 
proved and  education  adjusted,  farmers,  preachers  and  teach- 
ers of  larger  vision  and  dynamic  type  are  requisite  to  secure 
neighbourhood  cooperation.  The  task  of  securing  this  qual- 
ified leadership  is  gigantic  and  rural  improvement,  in  view 
of  its  scarcity,  almost  appears  as  a  remote  dream. 

(4)  The  rural  schools  have  been  part  cause  of  the  drift 
of  leadership  from  the  country.  They  educate  away  from 
country  life.  They  have  remained  so  inert  that  they  not 
only  stand  aloof  from  the  interest  and  life  which  surrounds 
them,  but  in  subject  matter  and  in  ideals  given  through  the 
subject  matter  the  influence  and  stimulus  are  away  from  farm 
life.  How  much  of  the  farm,  farming,  country  life,  and 
lives  of  "  hero  "  farmers  get  into  reading  lessons,  histories, 
geographies,  etc.  ?  Ideals  are  formed  out  of  what  the  mind 
feeds  upon.  If  all  the  facts  and  persons  studied  are  chosen 
from  non-agricultural  communities,  why  should  not  the  aims 
and  ambitions  of  country  youth  centre  in  the  world  that  is 
important  enough  to  be  put  into  their  books,  their  schools, 
libraries,  their  "  education  "  ? 

The  general  reading  matter  of  the  community  also  directs 
away  from  farm  life.  The  farmer  must  read  for  knowledge, 
inspiration  and  courage,  and  to  obtain  mastery  over  condi- 
tions, or  he  is  subdued  and  repelled.  There  is  very  little 
literature  that  is  specially  adapted  to  rural  life.  The  Bible 
is  commonly  read  from  the  point  of  view  of  "  texts  "  and 
needs  to  be  interpreted  and  adjusted  to  present  conditions. 
Novels  have  no  special  relation  to  conditions  under  which 
farmers  live.  There  are  few  good  ones  depicting  the  real 
farmer.  They  are  likely  to  be  caricatures  in  types  of  agri- 
cultural life  and  vocabulary.  There  are  practically  no  good 
poems  of  farm  life.  Those  which  are  written  are  from  the 
library  or  study  point  of  view. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  247 

The  nature  books  are  largely  forced  and  lack  personality. 
There  is  no  history  of  farm  life  or  farm  people.  Biographies 
are  those  of  persons  who  have  made  their  way  in  other 
careers.12 

The  general  attractiveness  of  city  life,  the  cleaner  and 
more  definite  pursuits,  the  larger  business  inducements  and 
other  allurements,  also  operate  to  draw  young  ambitious  per- 
sons to  the  cities. 

(5)  It  is  evident  that  a  permanent  rural  leadership  must 
be  developed  in  country  regions  and  institutions.  These  in- 
stitutions must  be  centred  in  the  interests  fundamental  to 
farming  communities.  They  must  impart  a  knowledge  of 
the  technical  processes  of  farm  and  home,  inspire  a  love  and 
loyalty  for  farm  life,  and  infuse  ideals  of  heroism  and  at- 
tainment which  are  not  foreign  to  the  country  and  which 
will  not  have  to  be  imported  to  the  city  to  be  realised. 

While  the  teacher  and  preacher  may  be  looked  to  for  lead- 
ership in  certain  directions  they  cannot  be  expected  to  identify 
themselves  with  rural  interests  so  long  as  they  are  fleeting 
residents.  The  member  of  the  community  on  whom  the 
permanent  and  full  responsibility  for  inspiration,  guidance, 
and  wise  counsel  regarding  the  general  social  interests  rests, 
must  be  the  farmer.  If  he  does  not  meet  it  no  one  else  can 
or  will.  He  is  most  interested,  has  most  at  stake  in  every 
respect,  is  a  life  resident,  and  for  these  reasons  in  addition 
to  others  he  cannot  hope  to  deputise  outside  persons  to  do 
the  work.  The  institution  which  trains  him  to  this  compe- 
tency and  responsibility  must  be  within  his  reach.  It  must 
be  available  to  all  the  country  residents  so  that  all  may  have 
their  abilities  developed.  The  rural  school  must  be  so  im- 
proved and  developed  that  it  can  meet  the  demand. 

5.  We  have  shown  the  general  necessity  of  rural  social 
centres  in  past  connections.13  The  arguments  need  no  re- 

12  L.  H.  Bailey,  "  The  Training  of  Farmers,"  pp.  37-45. 
18  See  previous  chapter. 


248       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

iteration.  We  take  it  for  granted  that  such  centres  must  be 
established.  They  should  afford  satisfaction  for  every  legiti- 
mate social  desire  of  the  community  —  play,  games,  sports, 
contests  in  athletics,  recreation  for  the  different  ages  and 
sexes,  amusements  suited  to  all,  entertainment  which  is  whole- 
some, dispensation  of  information,  clubs,  and  organisations. 

Much  real  education  in  a  most  entertaining  form  which 
would  draw  the  old  and  young  alike  could  be  secured  and 
dispensed  by  means  of  motion  pictures.  A  catalog  of  a 
film-renting  firm  illustrates  the  diversity  of  educational 
topics  which  motion  pictures  make  available.  Thousands 
of  films  are  listed  under  such  general  department  titles  as 
Agriculture,  Applied  Science,  Fine  Arts,  Literary,  History, 
Religious,  Military,  Natural  Science,  Railroads,  Sports,  and 
Travel,  which  may  be  rented  for  a  small  fee. 

The  church,  as  we  saw,  may  become  a  social  centre  if  it 
secures  high  class,  wide-awake  leadership.  That  it  will  do 
so  soon  or  that  such  a  church  centre  will  be  available  generally 
is  not  probable.  The  matter  cannot  be  left  to  such  voluntary- 
agencies.  Its  importance  makes  it  requisite  that  the  com- 
munity, as  a  public-minded  legal  entity,  should  take  the 
responsibility  of  establishing  and  maintaining  such  an  insti- 
tution. The  institution  must  be  democratic,  must  be  avail- 
able every  day  in  the  week,  and  must  guarantee  a  competent 
leadership.  The  church  cannot  be  regarded  as  the  most  dem- 
ocratic and  ubiquitous  clearing  house  for  the  social  interests 
of  rural  communities.  Sectarian  division,  and  traditional 
views  as  to  certain  social  pastimes,  such  as  dancing,  render 
it  impotent  to  become  the  democratic  institution  which  the 
situation  demands.  The  school  is  the  only  rural  institution 
which  is  present  in  every  community  and  which  can  be  or- 
dered and  manned  to  meet  these  requirements. 

The  promise  and  the  actual  fulfilment  lie  in  our  state  and 
educational  agencies.  The  state  educational  system  is  re- 
sponding to  the  needs.  The  schools  in  many  ^cities  are  ful- 


RUKAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  249 

filing  the  requirements.  They  are  real  centres  of  neighbour- 
hood activities.  Municipalities  either  in  connection  with 
schools  or  small  parks  are  maintaining  social  centres  by  pub- 
lic taxes.  The  state  educational  system  of  certain  states  is 
undertaking  the  establishment  and  direction  of  playground 
and  social  centres.  Wisconsin  is  an  example.  Its  univer- 
sity has  established  a  department  of  training  for  this  work, 
and  has  an  extension  division  and  director  which  organises 
centres  in  the  communities  of  the  state.  In  time  the  educa- 
tional system,  in  its  normal  schools  and  other  training  places 
for  teachers,  must  respond,  and  send  teachers  into  rural  com- 
munities who  are  trained  to  meet  the  needs.  Appropriate 
school  buildings  and  grounds  must  be  created. 

The  Consolidation  of  Rural  Schools. —  The  greatest  hope 
for  a  general  and  thorough  betterment  of  rural  social  con- 
ditions lies  in  the  consolidated  school.  It  is  no  longer  an 
experiment,  having  been  tried  for  a  score  of  years  in  Ohio 
and  in  all  parts  of  the  land.  Its  full  harvest  of  beneficial 
results  has  not  been  reaped  because  in  both  educational  and 
social  directions  ideals  of  what  ought  to  be  done  are  just 
appearing.  Enough  in  these  directions  has  been  secured  to 
insure  the  formation  of  more  competent  plans  and  methods. 
Some  of  the  benefits  are  presented. 

1.  The  consolidated  school  supplies  the  social  clearing 
house  and  social  centre  needed  in  rural  communities.  We 
have  seen  that  the  school  is  the  only  completely  democratic, 
non-sectarian,  universal  and  permanent  institution  rural  re- 
gions possess.  But  the  small  one-room  buildings  have  in- 
capacitated them  to  act  as  social  centres.  The  consolidated 
school,  with  its  larger  building  and  grounds  established  for 
social  as  well  as  educational  objects,  serves  as  a  competent 
agent.  Its  social  serviceability  is  seen  in  the  case  of  the 
children  while  in  school. 

"  In  the  consolidated  rural  school  all  children  from  the 
entire  township  or  district  meet,  mingle,  compete,  strive, 


250      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

make  friendships,  and  learn  how  to  work  together.  The 
school  is  free  and  accessible  to  all  children  within  its  juris- 
diction. All  the  boys  and  girls,  including  those  attending 
high  school,  return  home  daily,  and,  doing  their  allotted  work 
or  chores  mornings  and  evenings,  keep  in  touch  with  the 
home,  the  farm,  and  all  its  affairs,  and  remain  within  the 
shelter  of  home  during  the  most  impressionable  period  of 
their  lives.  There  is  no  longer  so  much  occasion  for  part  of 
the  children  to  attend  distant  boarding  schools  or  to  pay 
board  in  the  near-by  villages  to  attend  high  school.  Class 
distinctions,  which  the  old  district  school  unconsciously  fos- 
tered, are  broken  down  and  removed."  14 

In  securing  an  effective  play  centre  it  is  worth  its  cost. 
Play  cannot  be  organised  with  the  one-room  school.  There 
are  not  enough  children  of  a  given  age,  and  frequently  not 
enough  all  told,  to  have  a  baseball  or  football  game,  or  any 
other  which  calls  for  considerable  numbers.  Small  schools 
are  stupefying  in  their  lack  of  opportunity  for  organised  ac- 
tivity. Of  the  Green  township,  Ohio,  consolidated  school 
Mr.  Kern  says,  after  a  visit :  "  On  the  playground  all  the 
big  boys  of  the  township  play  baseball.  Think  what  it  is 
to  get  all  the  boys  of  a  township  —  country  boys,  I  mean  — 
on  one  playground.  There  will  grow  up  a  unity,  and  each 
boy  having  studied  and  played  with  other  boys  of  the  entire 
township,  will  be  stronger  for  it.  When  the  boys  and  girls 
of  Green  township  compete  with  those  of  Gustavus  township 
in  football,  baseball,  or  in  literary  contests,  on  athletic  ground 
or  in  townhall,  each  team  will  have  the  backing  of  an  en- 
thusiastic township."  15 

The  advantages  to  the  adults  of  the  community  are  secured 
by  having  commodious  and  comfortable  homes  in  the  con- 
solidated building  for  their  clubs,  organisations,  and  social 

i*  George  W.  Knorr,  "  Consolidated  Rural  Schools  and  Organisation 
of  a  County  System,"  U.  8.  Experimental  Station  Bulletin,  No.  232,  p.  32. 
15  «  Among  County  Schools,"  p.  260. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  251 

activities.  The  Government  report  on  consolidated  schools 
exhibits  cuts  of  various  buildings  which  range  in  price  from 
$5,000  to  $20,000,  and  any  of  them  could  be  made  to  afford 
quarters  for  community  purposes.  Some  of  them  are  splen- 
did looking  buildings  architecturally,  structures  a  neighbour- 
hood would  be  proud  of.  As  yet  the  social  feature  has  not 
entered  largely  into  the  plans  and  arrangements  of  such 
school  buildings.  The  community  needs  should  be  met  in 
their  arrangement. 

2.  The  educational  advantages  of  consolidation  are  obvious. 
(1)  Better  grading  with  its  advantages  would  be  secured. 

Three  teachers  could  take  charge  if  districts  were  con- 
solidated into  schools  of  one  hundred,  one  having  about  70 
pupils  and  the  others  the  upper  classes.  If  70  is  too  many 
for  the  first  teacher,  which  undoubtedly  is  true,  then  more 
could  be  given  to  the  teacher  of  the  upper  class  and  her  num- 
ber reduced.16 

(2)  There  is  the  stimulus  which  is  obtained  from  num- 
bers.    A  moderately  large  school  is  more  successful  than  a 
very  small  school,  by  reason  of  the  institutional  spirit  which 
it  begets  and  the  spirit  of  competition  and  rivalry  which  will 
exist  between  classes  and  between  members  of  the  same  class. 
All  of  this  creates  a  healthy  condition  which  stimulates  work 
and  often  makes  a  dull,  stupid  boy  or  girl  a  bright  energetic 
individual. 

(3)  The  school  year  will  be  longer.     As  it  is  now,  some 
strong  districts  have  a  long  term  and  the  weak  districts  have 
a  short  term.     Under  consolidation  experience  shows  that 
much  longer  school  years  are  sustained  and  that  the  attend- 
ance is  increased  and  is  more  regular. 

(4)  Consolidated    schools    afford    the   rooms,    equipment, 
grounds,  distribution  of  time,  and  specialisation  in  teaching 
force  which  are  required  to  modernise  and  adjust  education 
to  rural  needs.     Agriculture  is  taught  in  conjunction  with  a 

i«  W.  T.  Harris,  Educational  Review,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  207. 


252       CONSTKUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

small  demonstration  farm  of  five  or  ten  acres,  which  is  a  part 
of  the  school  plant.  Manual  training  and  domestic  science 
are  provided  in  the  basement  or  other  suitable  rooms  fur- 
nished and  equipped  for  those  purposes. 

(5)  Better  supervision  of  schools  and  more  highly  qual- 
ified teachers  are  secured.     Mr.  Knorr  found  this  to  be  the 
case  in  Ohio.     "  The  data  from  these  Ohio  schools  represent 
fair  averages  and  reflect  general  conditions  quite  accurately. 
Of  the  twenty-four  teachers  employed  in  the  three  district- 
school  townships,  one  was  a  graduate  of  a  normal  school, 
seventeen  of  high  schools,  two  of  academies,  one  of  a  district 
school  and  three  were  professional  teachers  of  twelve,  twenty, 
and  twenty-four  years'  experience  —  previous  training  not 
stated. 

"  The  three  consolidated-school  townships  employed  three 
principals,  three  high  school  assistants  and  nine  elementary 
school  teachers,  a  total  of  fifteen.  The  principals  were  grad- 
uates from  colleges  and  normal  schools;  one  had  specially 
prepared  to  teach  general  science.  Of  the  assistant  teach- 
ers, five  were  either  college  graduates  or  had  two  or  three 
years  of  college  work  to  their  credit;  two  were  graduates 
from  normal  schools ;  two  from  academies  and  two  from  high 
schools;  nine  of  the  fifteen  had  normal  school  training." 
The  consolidated  schools  demanded  two  years'  experience  for 
teaching,  the  district  schools  none. 

Supervision  is  obtained  by  the  daily  visit  of  the  principal 
to  the  class  rooms,  whereas  the  county  superintendent  sees 
the  district  schools  but  once  or  twice  a  year.  The  latter  can 
make  his  work  more  effective  in  the  visitation  of  sixteen  to 
twenty-five  consolidated  schools  than  in  one  hundred  or  one 
hundred  fifty  district  schools.  The  principal  of  the  con- 
solidated school  relieves  the  teacher  of  much  of  the  disci- 
pline, making  her  school  work  more  effective.17 

(6)  Country   pupils   may   have   the   advantage   of   high, 
17  Op.  cit.,  pp.  61-62. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  253 

school  education,  as  many  consolidated  schools  sustain  from 
two  to  four  years  of  high  school  work.  This  increases  the 
number  of  those  who  avail  themselves  of  high  school  priv- 
ileges. Mr.  Knorr  writes :  "  The  per  cent,  of  the  school 
population  attending  high  school  in  the  unconsolidated  town- 
ships was  only  2.2  as  compared  with  12.4:  per  cent,  in  con- 
solidated townships."  One  out  of  thirty-six  pupils  in  the 
former  and  one  out  of  six  in  the  latter  attended  high  school.18 

(7)  The  much  needed  leadership  in  rural  communities  is 
bred  and  secured.  Pupils  who  secure  an  adjusted  education 
right  in  their  home  schools  will  remain  at  home  to  use  it. 
The  increased  high  school  attendance  prepares  a  larger  num- 
ber of  educated  men  and  women  to  assume  the  direction  of 
affairs.  The  teaching  force  becomes  an  available  asset  to 
the  community  in  this  direction.  "  The  consolidated  school 
encourages  permanency  of  residence  of  principal  and  teach- 
ers; it  attaches  them  to  the  school,  begets  loyalty  and  en- 
thusiasm, and  makes  possible  the  formulation  of  long-time 
plans.  The  resident  principals  and  teachers  often  take  the 
leadership  in  social  and  literary  activities,  and,  having  be- 
come a  part  of  the  community,  set  an  example  of  citizenship 
for  all  the  children.  Through  contact  with  parents,  as  well 
as  with  children,  they  learn  the  character  and  home  life  of 
the  latter  quite  as  intimately  as  those  in  district  schools,  and 
much  better  than  those  in  town  and  city  schools."  19  Where 
normal  schools  and  colleges  give  them  a  social  outlook  and 
an  understanding  of  rural  neighbourhood  problems  much  in 
the  way  of  leadership  may  be  expected  of  this  teaching  force. 

3.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  consolidated  school 
is  the  most  economical  system  of  rural  education.  The  bet- 
ter social  and  educational  benefits  it  yields  is  the  guarantee 
of  its  value.  It  should  not  be  promoted  solely  on  the  grounds 
of  financial  saving.  Where  it  has  been  established  as  a  set- 
tled part  of  community  life  the  citizens  of  the  community 

*•  Op.  cit.,  p.  29.  19  Knorr,  op.  cit.,  p.  61. 


254:      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

would  resent  the  imputation  that  the  object  of  consolidating 
was  cheaper  rather  than  better  schools.  In  many  cases  con- 
solidation has  resulted  in  an  actual  financial  advantage. 
Thus,  in  Lagrange  county,  Indiana,  with  consolidation  in 
eight  townships,  Mr.  Kern  writes :  "  It  appears  that  the 
transportation  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  children 
made  possible  the  closing  of  thirty-eight  schools,  a  reduction 
of  twenty-four  teachers,  and  a  net  saving  of  $6,734.74."  20 

On  the  other  hand,  the  comparative  table  of  the  attend- 
ance and  cost  of  district  and  consolidated  schools  in  North 
Dakota  indicates  a  larger  expenditure  for  the  latter.21  Mr. 
Knorr's  investigation  indicates  that  consolidation  usually 
means  a  slight  additional  cost  per  pupil.  "  Under  the  stim- 
ulus of  public  conveyance  more  children  attend  and  do  so 
more  regularly,  and  that  adds  to  the  cost  of  conveyance." 
He  also  points  out  that  where  district  schools  raise  their 
standards  of  teaching  to  approximate  that  which  obtains  in 
consolidated  schools,  the  increased  cost  raises  their  cost  of 
administration  so  as  to  equal  and  even  exceed  that  of  the 
latter. 

Education  in  agriculture  and  household  economy  should 
make  country  men  and  women  much  larger  producers  and 
conservers.  This  stimulus  to  production  would  far  more 
than  offset  any  increase  of  expenditure  which  consolidation 
entails.  Considering  its  social,  educational,  leadership,  and 
financial  aspects,  consolidation  of  rural  schools  may  safely 
be  pronounced  to  be  the  best  educational  system  and  to  offer 
the  largest  prospects  as  a  means  of  community  improvement. 

II.    HIGHER    EDUCATION 

High  schools,   normal   schools,   agricultural  colleges,   and 

universities  may  be  regarded  as  higher  educational  agencies. 

High  Schools  and  Universities. —  The  first  and  the  last  of 

20  "Among  County  Schools,"  pp.  250-251. 

21  See  Table  27. 


EUKAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  255 

these  institutions  have  made  very  little  effort  to  reach  coun- 
try needs.  The  universities  which  do  not  have  agricultural 
colleges  as  departments  cater  to  urban  and  mining  profes- 
sions almost  exclusively,  manifesting  little  interest  or  respon- 
sibility for  the  condition  of  the  great  farming  occupation. 
The  high  schools,  many  of  which  exist  in  country  districts, 
are  so  bound  by  educational  traditions  that  they  do  not  prop- 
erly respond  to  rural  exigencies.  In  some  states  the  high 
schools  maintain  professional  subjects  for  preparing  students 
to  teach  in  country  schools.  Outside  of  this  little  conscious- 
ness of  their  larger  mission  exists.  Agricultural  topics  are 
tabooed,  although  domestic  economy  is  taught  in  some  of  the 
larger  cities  in  agricultural  regions. 

Normal  Schools. —  State  normal  schools  are  making  some 
attempt  to  equip  teachers  with  a  knowledge  of  agriculture. 
Information  obtained  indicates  a  growing  consciousness  of 
the  responsibility.  Some  normal  schools  have  courses  in 
agriculture  and  maintain  a  small  experimental  farm  or  gar- 
den to  make  the  work  as  real  as  possible.  In  certain  cases 
instruction  is  given  in  rural  school  matters.  Certain  nor- 
mals not  only  support  an  experimental  and  agricultural 
course  but  maintain  an  instructor  who  devotes  his  attention 
to  rural  school  problems. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  these  institutions  do  not  give  more 
serious  attention  to  sociological  matters.  Some  maintain 
weak  courses  in  economics  and  civics  given  by  poorly  equipped 
men,  and  an  occasional  normal  devotes  a  short  term  to  so- 
ciology. Professor  Clow  has  shown  that  the  tendency  to 
sociological  courses  is  gradually  rooting  into  these  institu- 
tions. He  also  writes  convincingly  in  behalf  of  thorough 
work  in  sociology  as  giving  the  proper  foundation  for  teach- 
ing. It  is  highly  desirable  that  normal  schools  devote  special 
attention  to  rural  social  problems  in  training  the  students 
who  expect  to  teach  in  the  country. 

Collected   facts   indicate   how   few   well-trained   teachers 


256      CONSTRUCTIVE  EURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

locate  in  rural  districts.  They  prefer  to  teach  in  cities  at 
little  better  wages  and  with  greater  expense  to  themselves. 
The  normals  may  do  two  things  to  send  more  teachers  to  rural 
schools.  First,  make  special  effort  to  establish  an  educational 
and  social  interest  in  rural  life  on  the  part  of  normal  students 
generally.  Second,  differentiate  the  instruction  given  in  the 
normal  so  that  there  shall  be  a  special  rural  school  normal 
course.  These  things  would  induce  more  persons  to  devote 
themselves  to  rural  education  and  so  qualify  them  for  it  as 
to  endow  them  with  special  fitness,  devotion  and  permanency 
for  the  work. 

Agricultural  Colleges. —  The  agricultural  colleges  are  the 
institutions  which  we  should  look  to  for  the  greatest  devotion 
to  farm  life  both  in  aim  and  training  activity.  We  must 
frankly  recognise  the  good  they  have  done  in  the  direction  of 
improved  agricultural  production.  That  they  have  risen  to 
the  height  of  their  full  opportunity  does  not  appear.  First, 
they  have  failed  to  recognise  their  true  mission,  the  place 
they  should  occupy  and  the  exact  work  they  should  do, 
as  institutions  among  other  kinds  of  state  educational  in- 
stitutions. That  their  mission  is  not  clear  to  their  own  man- 
agements is  indicated  by  their  constituency.  "  Not  only  do 
the  strongest  of  them  contain  great  numbers  of  secondary 
school  students,  but  the  institutions  themselves  represent  a 
mixture  of  many  separate  educational  efforts,  in  which  the 
ordinary  college  and  the  school  of  technology  predominate."  22 

Replies  to  a  questionnaire  indicate  that  in  states,  where 
the  agricultural  colleges  are  parts  of  the  state  university,  the 
larger  portion  of  their  students  are  from  the  country;  while 
in  those  states  where  these  institutions  are  separate  from 
the  universities  the  larger  portion  of  their  collegiate  students 
are  urban.  Again,  as  to  the  work  their  students  eventually 
engage  in  the  data  show  striking  contrasts  between  the  two 
classes  of  institutions.  New  York  and  Illinois  colleges  are 

22  «  Fourth  Carnegie  Foundation  Report,"  p.  97. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  257 

types  of  the  first  class.  Replies  as  to  the  number  of  students 
who  settle  in  the  country  supply  the  facts.  The  reply  from 
Illinois  states  that  a  record  of  some  226  graduates  shows  55 
per  cent,  are  farmers,  40  per  cent,  are  in  agricultural  col- 
leges, experiment  stations,  agricultural  publication,  agricul- 
tural department  work,  etc.,  making  a  total  of  95  per  cent, 
who  are  direct  and  indirect  agriculturists.  New  York  re- 
ports that  71  per  cent,  of  its  former  living  students  are  in 
some  form  of  farm  work,  and  20  per  cent,  in  some  form  of 
agricultural  education. 

The  case  is  decidedly  different  with  the  students  and  grad- 
uates of  separate  agricultural  colleges.  In  Iowa  and  North 
Dakota  those  institutions  are  separate  from  the  universities 
of  those  states  and  maintain,  besides  the  agricultural  courses, 
courses  in  mechanical,  electrical,  mining  and  civil  engineering 
which  are  largely  attended.  Most  of  the  students  of  those 
non-agricultural  courses  never  intend  to  take  up  farm  life 
nor  do  the  courses  articulate  in  any  vital  way  with  agricul- 
tural interests.  Thus  in  Iowa  in  1909  out  of  226  graduates 
but  56  took  some  course  relating  to  agriculture;  and  out  of 
1,160  graduates  whose  occupations  were  known,  275  were 
directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  agriculture,  132  of  the 
275,  directly.  Of  the  776  students  in  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege of  Nortfr  Dakota  in  1909-10,  but  98  were  pursuing 
long  courses  leading  up  to  farming.23 

President  Pritchett  says :  "  The  college  of  agriculture  and 
mechanic  arts  has  imitated  mainly  the  old  arts  college  and  the 
school  of  technology.  In  very  many  cases  the  engineering 
side  has  run  away  with  the  agricultural  side,  and  in  prac- 
tically all  of  the  agricultural  colleges  to-day  it  entirely  over- 
shadows in  numbers  and  in  influence  the  college  of  agricul- 
ture." 24  Besides  this  traditional  imitation  because  of  no 

23  Quarterly  Journal,   University  North  Dakota,   October,   1911,  pp. 
75-6. 

24  Op.  tit.,  p.  100. 


258      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

clear  conception  of  their  missions,  the  separate  institutions 
have  had  political  reasons  for  seeking  to  build  up  large  student 
bodies,  whatever  their  source,  destiny  or  kind  of  instruction. 
Early  in  their  careers  the  farmers  fought  shy  of  them.  In 
consequence  the  agricultural  and  mechanical  colleges  resorted 
to  all  kinds  of  devices  to  get  students.25 

xThe  fact  remains  that  they  have  hardly  touched  the  situa- 
tion. "  It  is  clear  that  the  agricultural  colleges,  working  as 
they  are  to-day,  will  not  in  a  hundred  years  reach  the  men 
who  must  be  taught  practical  farming.  The  conservation  of 
the  resources  of  the  soil  has  steadily  deteriorated  in  most 
states,  notwithstanding  the  existence  for  forty  years  of  these 
agencies." 

Second,  these  institutions  have  failed  to  recognise  the  so- 
cial character  of  the  rural  problem.  It  might  have  been 
expected,  that  above  all  educational  agencies,  they  would 
have  seen  that  the  improvement  of  farm  life,  of  leadership, 
and  the  general  enlightenment  of  the  population  on  funda- 
mental economic  and  social  matters,  are  means  and  condi- 
tions of  securing  improved  production.  Only  recently  have 
agricultural  college  men  assumed  an  aggressive  leadership  in 
any  of  these  matters.  Only  a  few  institutions  give  anything 
like  adequate  instruction  in  these  phases  of  farm  life.  The 
sciences  of  government  and  economics  are  usually  backward 
in  agricultural  institutions,  have  little  application  to  rural 
conditions,  and  sociology  of  any  sort  is  almost  unknown.  Yet 
these  are  the  sciences  which  must  be  depended  on  to  give  the 
information  and  point  of  view  which  are  needful  to  create  an 
intelligent  leadership,  and  instructional  staff  for  lower  grade 
institutions. 

Additional  Requirements. —  In  addition  to  what  has  been 
said  about  the  improvement  of  high  and  normal  school  in- 
struction to  meet  agricultural  needs  it  is  evident  that  other 
things  are  required.  First,  the  agricultural  colleges  must 

25  Pritchett,  op.  cit.,  p.  103. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  259 

recognise  their  mission  and  devote  themselves  to  its  accom- 
plishment. Such  an  institution  would  be  "  A  college  of  agri- 
culture associated  with  an  experiment  station  and  starting 
from  the  same  entrance  requirements  as  other  college  depart- 
ments. Such  a  college  would  train  leaders  in  agriculture, 
the  managers  of  great  agricultural  plants,  teachers  of  agri- 
culture, and  the  like.  This  conception  would  be  fulfilled  by 
an  agricultural  college  pure  and  simple,  whether  a  part  of 
a  university  or  whether  a  separate  agricultural  college."  26 
Second,  adequate  means  must  be  taken  to  train  men  for 
the  occupation  of  farming  by  institutions  which  are  closely 
associated  with  the  farm  neighbourhood.  "  If  we  are  to 
train  men  for  the  thousands  of  positions  which  are  to  be 
filled  in  every  state  in  the  practical  operation  of  farms,  we 
need  not  one  agricultural  college,  but  many  agricultural  trade 
schools ;  and  to  bring  about  this  result  we  need  to  keep  closely 
in  mind  the  distinction  between  an  agricultural  trade  school 
and  an  agricultural  college."  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  are 
leading  in  this  direction.  Wisconsin  has  established  four 
agricultural  high  schools  and  will  erect  others.  It  is  likely 
that  the  trade  school  work  will  be  turned  over  to  these  schools. 
This  work  in  the  university  has  been  separated  from  that  of 
the  agricultural  college  and  given  to  a  special  staff  of  second- 
ary school  instructors.  In  Minnesota  a  separate  school  of 
agriculture  has  been  established  near  Crookston  which  is 
practically  on  a  trade  school  basis.27  In  addition  to  this  it 
"  has  just  enacted  a  law  by  which  any  high  school  which  will 
add  a  department  of  agriculture  that  meets  the  requirement 
of  the  State  Board  of  Education  may  draw  upon  the  state 
funds  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  annually, 
the  number  of  schools  being  limited  to  ten  additional  for 
each  year.  Over  sixty  made  the  first  application,  many  of 
which  are  going  on  with  their  plans  independent  of  state  aid." 
Dean  Davenport  of  the  School  of  Agriculture  in  Illinois 
26  Pritchett,  op.  ctt.,  p.  98.  27  Pritchett,  op.  tit.,  pp.  99-101. 


260       CCXNTSTKUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

holds  that  the  next  place  to  teach  agriculture  is  in  the  high 
schools.  He  indicates  that  the  demand  for  teachers  of  agri- 
culture in  high  schools  has  heen  greater  than  the  supply,  that 
it  is  less  than  two  years  old,  and  that  secondary  agricultural 
education  wherever  tried  has  been  a  great  success.28  Such 
schools  are  not  technically  trade  schools  but  they  afford  a 
vocational  element. 

It  has  already  been  amply  shown  that  the  rural  schools 
must  be  depended  on  to  reach  the  masses  of  the  farming  pop- 
ulation. 

Extension  Work. —  It  is  being  recognised  that  extending 
the  opportunities  of  continued  education  to  the  people  of  the 
state  who  have  ceased  to  attend  the  schools  and  higher  edu- 
cational institutions  is  an*obligation  resting  on  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning.  The  universities  are  cooperating  with 
the  people  of  the  state  in  this  direction.  Generally  they  con- 
fine their  efforts  to  giving  instruction  by  correspondence 
courses  in  college  work  and  professional  subjects.  However, 
they  are  broadening  their  mission.  A  few  institutions  offer 
correspondence  work  to  all  ambitious  inhabitants  of  the  state, 
and  send  lecturers  on  practically  any  subject  into  communi- 
ties which  desire  them.  The  scope  of  university  extension 
work  is  constantly  broadening  and  augurs  well  for  the  future. 
As  yet  it  has  accomplished  little  of  direct  results  for  farm 
communities. 

The  extension  effort  is  the  most  significant  recent  develop- 
ment of  agricultural  colleges.  "  It  is  an  attempt  to  put  the 
college  in  the  way  of  aiding  every  man  to  help  himself  on  his 
own  farm.  In  this  effort  they  have  gone  farther  than  any 
other  institution  and  they  are  setting  an  example  for  all  in- 
stitutions." It  "includes  all  affective  personal  acquaint- 
anceship with  the  farmers  of  the  state;  all  inspection  of 
farms  that  is  not  legal  and  police  in  character;  the  giving  of 
advice  by  correspondence;  publication  of  an  educational  na- 
28  E.  Davenport,  "Education  for  Efficiency,"  Chap.  7. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  261 

ture;  cooperation  with  societies  and  organisations;  advisory 
and  cooperative  work  with  schools;  the  organising  of  boys' 
and  girls'  clubs  in  schools  and  country  districts ;  the  conduct- 
ing of  reading  courses  for  farmers,  farmers'  wives  and  rural 
school  teachers;  experiments  and  demonstrations  on  farms; 
holding  of  (  farmers'  weeks  '  and  other  conventions ;  lectures, 
itinerant  schools,  and  the  like ;  and  all  species  of  Helpfulness 
and  advice  to  the  people  on  the  land.  The  extension  depart- 
ment of  a  college  of  agriculture  should  be  a  means  of  arous- 
ing the  country  people,  and  then  of  helping  and  guiding 
them." 

Professor  Bailey  regards  the  institute  as  a  permanent 
means  of  reaching  the  farmers  from  agricultural  colleges. 
"  We  must  develop  a  new  type  of  institute  man,29  unlike  the 
college  professor  on  the  one  hand  and  the  so-called  practical 
farmer  on  the  other."  Such  men  must  have  special  training 
in  and  close  contact  with  the  colleges,  and  live  on  the  land 
a  part  of  the  time ;  and  should  be  farmers  as  well  as  students. 
Teaching  on  farms  is  likewise  important.  It  carries  the 
laboratory  method  to  the  farmer.  "  A  man's  farm  is  his 
laboratory.  No  one  may  direct  him  how  to  manage  his 
farm;  but  a  good  teacher  coming  to  his  place  may  set  him 
into  new  lines  of  thinking  and  put  him  in  the  way  of  help- 
ing himself."  30 

29  During  the  year  1911  various  North  Dakota  associations  for  the 
improvement  of  farming  have  placed  in  the  field  men  of  the  above  type. 
The  same  plan  is  to  be  executed  in  expending  the  million  dollar  fund 
to  improve  farming  which  was  created  by  the  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Co.,  of 
Chicago,  in  May,  1912. 

so  "  The  State  and  the  Farmer,"  p.  17  ff;  and  "  The  Training  of  Farm- 
ers," pp.  252-256. 

REFERENCES 
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"  Vocational  Education."  J.  M.  Gillette,  Div.  II,  "  Social  Demands 
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tory for  Teaching  Purposes,"  School  Review,  October,  1909;  "  City  Trend 


262       CONSTRUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY] 

of  Population  and  Leadership,"  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  University  of 
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"  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Industrial  Education  in  Schools  for 
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"Proceedings  of  Annual  Farmers'  Institute  Workers,"  1910.  Bulle- 
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"Social  Science  Outlines,"  J.  B.  Welch,  Elementary  School  Teacher, 
May  and  December,  1906. 

"  Social  Study  Outlines."  "  Reports  of  the  Committee  of  Seven,  North 
Dakota  Educational  Association,"  1909  and  1911,  pp.  10-24,  and  pp.  43- 
47. 

"  Moral  Principles  in  Education."    John  Dewey,  pp.  57-58. 

"  The  State  and  the  Farmer."    L.  H.  Bailey,  pp.  87-107. 

"The  Training  of  Farmers."     L.  H.  Bailey,  pp.  37-45. 

"The  Religious  Possibilities  of  the  Motion  Picture."  Herbert  A. 
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"  Fourth  Annual  Foundation  Report,"  p.  106. 

"  The  School  Society."    John  Dewey. 

On  Adjustment  of  Education  to  Rural  Needs. 

"  Problems  of  the  Rural  School."  N.  C.  Abbott,  North  Dakota  Teach- 
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"  Report  of  Committee  of  Twelve  on  Rural  Schools." 

"  The  School  and  Society."     John  Dewey,  p.  29. 

"Is  the  Country  Child  of  North  Dakota  Getting  a  Square  Deal?" 
A.  D.  Weeks,  The  Extension,  Agricultural  College,  North  Dakota,  April, 
1909,  p.  4. 

Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation,  "Agricultural 
Education,"  "  The  Future  of  the  Agricultural  College,"  and  "  The  Train- 
ing of  the  Farmer."  H.  S.  Pritchett,  pp.  97-107. 

"  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress."     K.  L.  Butterfield,  Chaps.  6  and  9. 

"Education  for  Efficiency."     E.  Davenport,  Chaps.  7,  8,  and  9. 

"  The  State  and  the  Farmer."    Bailey,  pp.  154-155  and  p.  170. 

"  The  Training  of  Farmers,"  pp.  252-256. 

Education,  Vol.  XLV,  p.  304;  March,  1897,  p.  418. 

Educational  Review,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  207. 

Perry,  Clarence  A.     "  Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant." 

Education,  31;  529-35;  "The  Ruralised  College."  Proceedings  North 
Dakota  Educational  Association,  1909. 

"  Education  From  the  Ground  Up."  World's  Work,  March,  1909,  pp. 
11309-10;  "Farmers'  Children  Need  Farmers'  Studies."  Clarence  H. 
Poe,  same,  August,  1903,  pp.  3760-2. 


RURAL  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  263 

"What  Agricultural  Communities  Should  Teach."  Survey,  May  1, 
1909,  pp.  162-3. 

"Learning  by  Doing."  For  the  farmer  boy.  Supt.  O.  J.  Kern,  Re- 
view of  Reviews,  October,  1903,  pp.  456-61. 

"How  May  the  Rural  Schools  be  More  Closely  Related  to  the  Lives 
and  Needs  of  the  People?"  D.  J.  Crosby  in  N.  E.  A.  reports,  1909,  p. 
970. 

"The  Present  Status  of  Agricultural  Education  in  Public  Schools." 
E.  C.  Bishop,  State  Supt.  of  Nebraska  in  N.  E.  A.  reports,  1909,  pp.  97- 
84. 

"  Annual  Report  of  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  New  South  Wales, 
Australia,"  1908,  pp.  18,  19,  36. 

"  The  Exploitation  of  Pleasure."  M.  M.  Davis.  Russell  Sage  Foun- 
dation, No.  84. 

"  Evening  Recreation  Centres."  C.  A.  Perry.  Russell  Sage  Founda- 
tion, No.  85. 

"  Play  and  Playgrounds."  Joseph  Lee,  American  Civic  Association, 
Leaflet  No.  11  —  second  edition. 

"The  School  Garden."  L.  C.  Corbett,  U.  8.  Farmers'  Bulletin,  No. 
218. 

"Agricultural  Instruction  for  Adults  in  the  British  Empire."  John 
Hamilton,  same,  No.  155. 

"School  Gardens."  B.  T.  Galloway,  U.  S.  Experimental  Station  Bul- 
letin, No.  160. 

"  Forestry  in  the  Public  Schools."  H.  A.  Winkenwerder,  U.  S.  Forest 
Service  Circular,  No.  130. 

On  Consolidation 

"  Consolidation  of  Rural  Schools  and  Organisation  of  a  County  Sys- 
tem." Geo.  W.  Knorr,  U.  S.  Experiment  Station  Bulletin,  No.  232. 

"  Among  County  Schools."     O.  J.  Kern,  Chap.  12. 

"  The  American  Rural  School."     H.  W.  Foght,  Chap.  15. 

Journal  of  Education,  Vol.  XLV,  p.  412  ff. 

Educational  Review,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  207. 

"  Problem  of  the  Rural  School."  N.  C.  Abbot,  Norti  Dakota  Teach- 
ers' Bulletin,  April,  1911,  p.  2. 

"  The  Consolidation  of  Rural  Schools  in  North  Dakota,"  C.  C.  Schmidt, 
Univ.  of  N.  Dak.  Departmental  Bulletin,  Oct.,  1912. 


CHAPTEK  XVII 

BTTR.AT.    CHARITY   AND    COBBECTION 
I.    CONDITIONS    IN    THE    COUNTRY 

In  Chapter  6  statistics  appeared  of  the  comparative  amount 
of  pauperism  and  crime  in  city  and  country.  They  confirm 
the  statement  that  the  country  is  relatively  immune  from  the 
vice,  crime,  and  pauperising  conditions  of  the  cities.  Yet 
there  are  sufficient  pathological  conditions  in  rural  regions 
to  warrant  serious  attention. 

Pauperism. —  There  is  much  pauperism  in  rural  regions 
where  it  would  not  be  expected,  and,  certainly,  more  than 
is  legitimate.  Where  the  "  outdoor "  method  of  adminis- 
tering relief  is  practised  this  is  likely  to  he  the  case.  In 
the  hands  of  men,  generally  county  commissioners,  ignorant 
of  the  conditions  which  breed  paupers  and  of  the  significance 
of  the  fact  of  pauperism ;  without  knowledge  of  adequate  and 
preventive  means  of  giving  assistance ;  this  method  could  not 
be  expected  to  result  otherwise  than  in  building  up  a  per- 
manent class  of  dependents. 

In  some  cases  also  commissioners  are  known  to  use  relief 
work  as  a  means  of  obtaining  the  political  support  of  a  cer- 
tain element  in  their  county  or  township.  Again,  it  is  found 
that,  in  some  states,  their  fees  are  determined  by  the  day 
and  the  temptation  is  strong  to  increase  them  by  making  a 
relief  order  stand  for  a  day's  work.  Thus,  in  North  Dakota, 
some  commissioners  write  such  an  order  and  charge  the 
county  five  dollars  for  a  day's  work.  This  system  encourages 
commissioners  to  sustain  a  horde  of  dependents  and  to  oppose 
every  effort  which  promises  to  reduce  their  number. 

264 


KURAL  CHARITY  AND  CORRECTION      265 

Very  seldom  is  an  applicant  for  relief  investigated  as  to 
worthiness  and  extent  of  need.  There  is  little  or  no  visita- 
tion to  see  if  the  assistance  is  properly  used  or  if  it  should 
be  discontinued.  An  officer  seldom  regards  it  as  his  duty 
to  give  help  so  that  it  does  not  pauperise,  or  to  attempt  to  re- 
claim the  professional  pauper  to  self-supporting  citizenship. 
Our  county  system  of  administering  relief  is  about  as  vicious 
as  it  could  be  because  it  encourages  rather  than  discourages 
the  condition  it  should  seek  to  remove. 

Much  should  be  said  about  the  indoor  method  of  assisting 
the  dependent.  Probably  most  of  the  almshouses  are  con- 
ducted in  a  way  to  foster  a  dependent  class.  Almshouses 
should  be  retained  for  the  permanent  classes  of  impoverished 
persons.  Others  should  be  excluded.  Admission  and  dis- 
missal should  be  strictly  guarded.  The  common  practice  is 
to  send  all  classes  of  cases  there,  and  to  admit  and  dismiss 
individuals  largely  upon  their  own  volition.  Half-witted 
women  use  them  as  a  lying-in  place,  depart  at  will,  only  to 
return  again  for  the  same  purpose,  thus  adding  to  the  popu- 
lation both  a  dependent  and  defective  element.  Young  chil- 
dren are  housed  among  professional  paupers  and  others  of 
vicious  or  undesirable  habits  and  by  the  process  of  imitation 
come  to  be  contaminated.  It  is  almost  inevitable  that  they 
should  recruit  either  the  dependent  or  the  delinquent  class. 

Unwise  philanthropy  assists  the  enlargement  of  the  rural 
dependent  class.  Feeding  tramps  is  a  standing  practice  in 
most  of  our  farm  regions.  This  amounts  to  breeding  tramps, 
for  it  is  an  inducement  to  shiftless  individuals  to  secure  an 
easy  living.  In  the  West  there  has  been  developed  a  new 
species  of  tramp. 

"  They  live  in  a  covered  wagon  and  with  a  broken-down 
team  of  horses  they  travel  from  town  to  town  and  from  place 
to  place,  camping  in  the  woodside,  begging  bread  for  the 
family  and  corn  and  fodder  for  the  horses."  These  migrants 
are  not  criminals  but  they  do  not  hesitate  to  appropriate  the 


266       CONSTKUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

things  they  need.  Investigation  of  a  large  number  of  cases 
showed  that  the  majority  of  the  women  were  immoral. 

Vice. —  Crime,  as  we  discovered,  is  less  prolific  in  rural 
than  in  urban  districts.  Yet  the  former  possesses  a  sufficient 
amount  to  demand  earnest  attention.  We  have  noted  that 
tramps  are  found  throughout  the  country.  Many  of  them 
are  criminal  in  tendency  and  in  practice.  The  floating  la- 
bour class  which  abounds  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  con- 
tributes its  quota  to  the  establishment  of  vicious  example. 
These  two  classes  furnish  many  of  the  cases  of  theft,  assault, 
and  rape  which  occur.  Much  less  vice  exists  in  the  open 
country  than  in  villages  and  small  cities.  Prostitution 
hardly  occurs. 

The  small  towns  in  many  cases  are  infested  with  vicious 
habits  and  rowdyism.  Insufficient  police  force  is  partly  re- 
sponsible for  this  condition.  Boys  are  allowed  to  grow  up 
with  idle  habits  and  a  freedom  of  life  entirely  unsuppressed. 
They  develop  a  spirit  of  resistance  to  the  laws  and  conse- 
quently a  sort  of  imbecile  rowdyism  which  leads  to  vicious- 
ness  and  finally  to  crime.  This  shows  itself  in  petty  crimes 
and  misdemeanours.  The  "  bad  boy  "  has  unusually  large 
opportunities  in  the  direction  of  infecting  other  boys  and  in 
organising  mischief  in  these  small  places. 

"  Where  boys  are  allowed  to  loaf  in  gangs  about  the  street 
corners,  or  engage  in  shooting  craps  or  playing  cards  in  ob- 
scure corners  of  the  town,  using  obscene  language,  making 
idle  or  indecent  remarks  about  passers-by,  committed  to  the 
cigarette  habit  and  other  lewd  habits,  there  is  developed  a 
tendency  to  evil  which  once  well  rooted,  can  never  be  over- 
come." 

One  of  the  semi-pathological  conditions  which  quite  gen- 
erally exists  in  country  regions  is  salacious  conversation. 
The  talk  which  takes  place  about  the  threshing  machine  dur- 
ing idle  periods  illustrates  this.  The  most  disreputable 
stories  are  about  the  only  kind  narrated.  Allusions  to  the 


KURAL  CHAKITY  AND  COREECTION      267 

most  private  affairs  of  the  sexes  are  frequent  and  the  chief 
enjoyment  is  gained  from  the  coarse  humour  of  such  butts 
and  stories. 

Polluted  conversation  and  thoughts  are  decided  influences 
toward  degeneration.  "  The  mind  of  youth  that  runs  to  vile 
language,  vile  thoughts,  and  vile  conceptions  soon  loses  its 
native  power  and  is  on  the  road  to  degeneration  of  thought, 
if  not  imbecility."  The  effect  on  the  moral  power  is  still 
greater.  Persons  engaging  in  salacious  conversation  lose 
their  moral  standards  and  are  without  a  guide. 

This  is  a  phase  of  isolation.  If  the  city  has  too  much 
rush  and  stimulus  the  country  has  so  little  that  it  puts  a 
premium  on  stagnation  and  degeneracy.1 

The  noted  2  Jukes  family  is  an  example  of  the  combination 
of  vice  and  dependency  which  may  be  allowed  to  develop 
in  neglected  rural  communities.  The  original  Jukes  were 
rural  New  Yorkers,  as  were  many  of  the  descendants.  But 
of  a  total  lineage  of  1,200  persons  709  were  investigated  by 
Mr.  Dugdale.  Of  these  540  were  of  Jukes  blood  and  169 
connected  by  marriage.  Of  the  305  blooded  Jukes  who 
reached  marriageable  age,  82  were  illegitimate,  73  prosti- 
tutes, 12  kept  brothels,  51  were  syphilitic,  49  were  criminals, 
95  received  outdoor  and  53  almshouse  relief.  Of  the  169 
who  married  Jukes,  9  were  illegitimate,  55  prostitutes,  6 
kept  brothels,  16  were  syphilitics,  27  were  criminals,  47  re- 
ceived outdoor  and  11  almshouse  relief.  This  takes  no  ac- 
count of  the  58  of  the  first  class  and  23  of  the  second  class 
who  were  unascertained.  Eifty-two  and  four-tenths  per  cent, 
of  the  Jukes  women  were  harlots.  The  investigator  esti- 
mated that  in  75  years  they  cost  the  community  $1,250,000, 

iBlackmar,  F.  W.,  "Social  Degeneration  in  Towns  and  Rural  Dis- 
tricts," National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1900,  pp. 
115-24. 

2  Recently  Dr.  Goddard  has  published  "  The  Kallikak  Family."  The 
family  studied  is  essentially  a  rural  stock  which  has  been  prolific  of 
dependents,  defectives,  and  delinquents,  especially  of  defectives. 


268       CONSTRUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY, 

besides  the  evil  inheritances  it  imposed  on  posterity.  This 
family  is  only  an  extreme  case  of  a  type  of  family  which 
many  country  and  village  communities  are  breeding.  Loose 
methods  of  relief,  a  lax  or  absent  police  power,  and  backward 
methods  of  treating  youthful  offenders  are  among  the  condi- 
tions which  build  up  and  perpetuate  these  stocks. 

Country  districts  are  subject  to  criminal  exploitation  of 
men  from  the  cities.  Says  Professor  Henderson :  "  The 
criminals  of  the  city  go  out  to  plunder  rural  banks  and  stores. 
The  common  interest  does  not  stop  at  city  lines.  The  com- 
mon enemy  must  be  caught  where  he  can  be  overtaken.  The 
recent  extension  of  trolley  lines  into  the  country  and  the  in- 
troduction of  swift  automobiles  have  widened  the  field  for 
professional  burglars  of  cities.  Against  these  trained  vil- 
lains the  thin  safes  of  country  merchants  and  banks  are  mere 
tissue  paper."  Attention  is  also  called  to  the  inefficiency  of 
the  untrained  rural  constable  and  county  sheriff  when  pitted 
against  the  shrewd  cunning  and  audacious  daring  of  city-bred 
criminals.3 

Rural  communities  are  backward  in  the  maintenance  of 
suitable  jails  and  lockups.  The  kind  which  obtain  are  more 
often  preparatory  schools  of  crime  than  correctives.  Not 
only  are  the  sanitary  conditions  vile  and  unwholesome  but 
the  practice  of  throwing  young  offenders  into  prison  to  con- 
course with  mature  criminals  can  result  in  nothing  but  breed- 
ing criminal  careers.  The  sentencing  of  boys  to  prisons  and 
remanding  them  to  jails  to  await  trial  are  practices  which  act 
as  causes  of  a  greater  amount  of  crime  instead  of  being  checks 
and  preventives. 

a  "  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Sci- 
ence," Vol.  XL,  p.  231. 


KURAL  CHAEITY  AND  CORRECTION      269 


H.    THE    IMPROVEMENT   OF   RURAX    CHARITABLE    AND 
CORRECTIVE    INSTITUTIONS 

The  usual  relief  agencies  consist  of  outdoor  relief  and  re- 
lief in  almshouses. 

Outdoor  Relief. —  Of  giving  aid  to  the  poor  outside  of  in- 
stitutions we  call  "  poorhouses  "  much  is  to  be  said  in  its 
favour.  It  is  quite  generally  conceded  to  be  the  best  plan 
to  follow  in  those  cases  of  poverty  which  promise  to  be  tem- 
porary; also  in  counties  where  the  number  of  permanent 
dependents  is  small.  The  reasons  for  this  position  may  be 
briefly  stated.  First,  it  enables  members  of  the  family  to 
share  in  self-support,  and  in  case  of  a  single  individual  may 
lead  him  to  earlier  and  partial  self-support.  Second,  it  keeps 
the  family  together,  one  of  the  greatest  objects  in  the  admin- 
istration of  charity.  Third,  it  avoids  attaching  to  the  indi- 
vidual the  stigma  of  having  been  in  the  "  poorhouse." 
Fourth,  since  a  large  share  of  poverty  comes  in  the  winter 
and  is  temporary  in  nature  the  outdoor  method  saves  the  in- 
vestment of  dead  capital  in  costly  institutions.  Fifth,  as  a 
supporting  reason  may  be  mentioned  the  fact  that  the  tend- 
ency of  modern  charity  is  in  the  direction  of  outdoor  relief. 

In  case  outdoor  relief  is  resorted  to,  however,  there  are 
some  necessary  precautions  which  must  be  taken  to  make  it 
safe  and  economical.  First,  every  case  should  be  carefully 
investigated  by  a  competent  person  to  make  it  certain  that  it 
is  one  of  real  need.  Otherwise  persons  are  likely  to  be  im- 
bued with  a  spirit  of  dependency,  and  a  needless  expenditure 
of  public  money  is  made.  The  first  point  is  the  more  im- 
portant. It  is  easier  to  pauperise  individuals  than  it  is  to 
restore  them  to  independence.  No  risks  should  be  taken. 

Second,  great  care  should  be  exercised  to  see  that  assist- 
ance is  not  prolonged  beyond  the  point  of  actual  need.  To 
unnecessarily  prolong  assistance  is  to  pauperise.  Frequent 
visitation  is  therefore  essential.  Third,  careful  guardianship 


270       CONSTKUCTIVE  EUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

is  needed  to  see  that  political  capital  is  not  made  out  of  aid 
extended  and  that  votes  are  not  being  purchased  thereby. 
Fourth,  the  aid  extended  should  usually  be  in  the  shape  of 
the  things  actually  needed  rather  than  in  the  shape  of  money, 
as  the  latter  may  easily  be  squandered,  or  used  to  purchase 
alcohol.  With  these  and  other  precautions  outdoor  relief 
should  be  made  effective. 

Indoor  Relief. —  The  following  statements  may  be  made 
relative  to  relief  in  almshouses.  As  in  outdoor  relief  the 
inmates  are  to  be  cared  for  so  as  to  be  restored  to  actual 
competency  if  possible  and  as  soon  as  possible.  Many  of 
the  requisites  depend  on  the  plan  of  the  structure  or  buildings. 

First,  buildings  should  be  constructed  so  as  to  permit  of 
a  separation  of  the  sexes  in  order  to  prevent  immorality, 
illegitimacy,  etc.  Second,  they  should  be  built  to  permit 
the  separation  of  children  from  the  adults.  Children  drink 
in  the  lives  of  the  elders  they  grow  up  among.  If  kept  in 
almshouses  they  should  be  carefully  guarded  from  the  de- 
generating influences  of  confirmed  paupers,  and  should  be 
educated  carefully.  Third,  there  should  be  provision  made 
for  the  isolation  of  tubercular  and  other  infectious  cases,  for 
the  danger  of  inoculation  is  well  known.  Fourth,  the  insane 
and  feeble-minded  should  never  be  kept  in  almshouses,  but  if 
they  are  they  should  have  separate  wards  provided  for  them. 

Fifth,  all  able-bodied  persons  should  be  given  work. 
Work  is  the  salvation  of  many  dependents  and  defectives. 

Some  of  the  good  effects  of  work  are  as  follows:  It  aids 
health,  good  order  and  morals ;  reduces  chronic  grumbling  by 
taking  the  mind  off  the  self  and  creating  a  feeling  of  useful- 
ness and  dignity;  prevents  lapsing  into  a  state  of  dementia, 
for  just  as  in  insane  hospitals  idleness  is  found  to  keep  the 
inmates  insane,  so  in  hospitals  for  the  poor  it  drives  them 
insane;  discourages  lazy  loafers  and  keeps  them  out  of  the 
almshouses.  Work  is  the  best  sifting  test  known.  In  the 
Sauk  County,  Wisconsin,  almshouse  work  revolutionised 


EHRAL  CHARITY  AND  CORRECTION      271 

the  inmates,  made  them  contented,  restored  many  of  them. 
Basket  making,  chair  making,  etc.,  are  possible  forms  of  work 
which  might  be  provided.  It  is  not  easy  to  get  the  inmates 
to  work  but  it  ought  to  be  attempted  as  a  restorative.  Sixth, 
frequent  visitation  of  the  institution  should  be  established. 
Once  a  year  is  insufficient.  Good  authorities  say  once  a 
month  is  none  too  often.  Efficiency  depends  on  visitation  by 
intelligent  and  interested  persons. 

Needed  Legislation. —  Some  consideration  may  well  be 
given  to  needed  improvements  in  the  system  of  poor  relief 
through  advance  in  legislation.  All  that  may  be  done  is  to 
enumerate  and  appraise  the  several  points  briefly.  First, 
where  it  does  not  exist,  a  law  should  be  passed  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  state  board  of  charities.  The  board  should  be 
separate  and  special  from  all  other  boards.4  It  has  special 
functions,  needs  special  talent.  Its  work  should  be  one  of 
intelligent  supervision  of  all  institutions  in  the  state  devoted 
to  the  care  of  dependents,  defectives,  and  delinquents;  and 
there  should  be  rigid  inspection  by  means  of  a  secretary  or 
an  inspector  who  would  visit  all  institutions  one  or  more  times 
annually.  It  would  also  secure  a  service  which  is  much 
needed,  that  of  arousing  an  intelligent  public  opinion  on  the 
matter  of  relief  along  proper  lines.  The  inspection  would 
secure  the  right  kind  of  buildings,  raise  the  standard  of  su.- 
perintendency,  and  make  the  administration  of  the  institu- 
tions more  effective. 

Second,  there  should  be  laws  entailing  strict  admission  and 
discharge.  As  was  remarked,  one  may  almost  pass  into 
almshouses  and  out  at  will.  Feebleminded  women  may  make 
of  them  a  convenience.  Debauchees  get  admitted  to  rest  up, 
then  are  away  at  will.  It  is  a  matter  of  public  concern  and 
should  be  closely  regulated. 

Third,  building  laws  are  needed  which  would  require  a 

*  This  statement  is  open  to  discussion.  Recently  the  tendency  has 
been  toward  a  single  board  of  control. 


2/72       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

separation  of  sexes,  special  classes  of  insane  and  diseased, 
and  that  of  the  children  from  adults.  In  the  case  of  small 
populations  several  counties  would  better  build  jointly  to 
secure  these  ends.  Laws  now  commonly  legalise  this  pro- 
cedure. 

Fourth,  there  should  be  laws  which  place  superintendents 
and  attendants  on  a  civil-service  basis,  and  require  a  certain 
standard  of  fitness  and  of  preparation  for  the  position  of 
superintendent.  Had  we  the  institutions  of  the  larger  joint- 
county  type  these  requirements  could  well  be  sustained.  The 
best  plan  is  the  most  economical  in  the  long  run  and  these 
steps  should  be  taken.  They  have  the  approval  of  the  experts 
and  authorities  on  matters  of  relief  work  in  the  United 
States  and  European  countries. 

Fifth,  a  law  establishing  a  central  accounting  system  for 
the  state  on  all  charitable  and  criminal  matters  is  greatly 
needed.  In  most  of  the  states  it  is  impossible  to  discover 
the  amount  expended  for  poor  relief  and  for  criminal  mat- 
ters, or  the  number  of  persons  supported  at  public  expense 
without  resorting  to  the  expense  and  trouble  of  visiting  every 
county  office  and  in  some  states  every  township  office  in  the 
state.  Such  information  is  necessary  if  matters  are  to  be 
improved.  If  a  central  accounting  system  were  put  into  ef- 
fect it  would  have  a  deterring  influence  on  lax  administration 
of  public  funds.  In  the  matter  of  poor  relief  the  number 
of  persons  aided  and  the  amount  of  relief  should  be  reported, 
as  well  as,  perhaps,  other  facts. 

Sixth,  a  Board  of  County  Charities  should  be  established 
by  law,  as  is  done  in  Indiana.  In  that  state  such  a  board  is 
made  mandatory  on  the  petition  of  fifteen  reputable  citizens. 
The  duty  of  such  boards  is  to  visit  poor  asylums,  jails, 
orphans'  homes,  lockup,  and  any  other  charitable  or  correc- 
tional institution  receiving  any  public  support.  They  re- 
port to  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  quarterly  and  to 
the  Circuit  Judge  annually,  reports  being  furnished  to  the 


KUKAL  CHAEITY  AND  COKRECTION      273 

press  and  the  State  Board  of  Charities.  Only  travelling 
expenses  are  furnished.  These  boards  have  been  of  ines- 
timable value  in  Indiana. 

Tramps. —  Tramps  should  receive  a  treatment  specially  in- 
tended to  discover  their  real  nature  and  to  reclaim  them  if 
possible.  They  should  be  submitted  to  a  work  test  before 
receiving  assistance.  The  able,  really  needy  man  will  gladly 
avail  himself  of  earning  his  meal  or  other  assistance.  Every 
farmer  has  the  ability  to  apply  this  rule.  Those  unable  to 
work  should  go  to  the  almshouse  or  hospital  and  should  be 
helped  thereto.  Those  who  are  able  but  unwilling  to  work 
should  not  be  fed  because  they  would  be  encouraged  to  con- 
tinue the  idle  parasitic  life.  If  this  rule  were  generally 
followed  tramping  would  be  lessened  decidedly.  When  the 
community  is  compact  and  is  able  a  work  house  in  which  the 
work  test  is  administered  is  a  useful  institution. 

Besides  the  application  of  the  work  test  by  the  above  meth- 
ods, farm  or  training  colonies  for  tramps  are  gaining  a  very 
strong  advocacy  on  the  part  of  charity  leaders.  New  Zealand 
penalises  begging  so  severely  that  there  is  very  little.  It 
seeks  to  reform  vagrants  by  means  of  government  "  improved 
farm  settlements  "  and  "  village  settlements  "  which  help  the 
landless  to  obtain  homes.5 

America  has  not  proceeded  so  far  but  makes  use  of  farm 
colonies  to  train  vagrants  to  useful  habits  of  work. 

The  Feeble-minded. —  Feeble-minded  children  are  gener- 
ally kept  in  their  homes  by  parents  and  given  an  insufficient 
training.  Not  all  cases  of  arrested  development  may  be  made 
self-supporting.  Idiocy  entails  complete  dependence.  Many 
backward  children,  however,  may  by  proper  training  be  fitted 
to  make  their  own  way  in  life  or  at  least  in  large  measure. 
This  cannot  be  done  in  the  common  schools  in  classes  along 
with  the  bright  children.  If  feeble-minded  children  are  to 

s  Henderson,  C.  R.,  "Modern  Methods  of  Charity,"  pp.  310-311;  Par- 
sons, Frank,  "  The  Story  of  New  Zealand/'  Chap.  51,  p.  514. 


274      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

be  kept  at  home  they  should  have  special  instruction  pro- 
vided them  in  connection  with  the  schools.  Failing  this,  they 
should  be  sent  to  the  school  which  the  state  provides  or  to 
similar  private  institutions,  where  special  attention  and  fa- 
cilities exist.  Most  communities  and  states  are  lax  in  this. 
Parents  dislike  to  entrust  their  children  to  strangers  and 
refuse  to  admit  that  they  are  less  able  than  other  children. 
This  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  parents  is  to  the  detriment 
of  the  child.  For  its  own  good  they  should  be  willing  to  send 
it  where  it  may  receive  the  greatest  assistance. 

Incipient  Insanity. —  One  of  the  weakest  places  in  our 
treatment  of  the  unfortunate  persons  who  become  subject  to 
insanity  lies  in  the  initial  stages  of  the  disease.  The  common, 
method  consists  in  throwing  the  insane  into  the  local  jail  if 
they  are  violent,  of  giving  them  a  trial  before  a  county  board, 
and  of  sending  them  to  the  state  institution  for  the  insane. 
This  process  leaves  out  of  account  the  idea  of  curability  of 
the  patient  and  disregards  his  sentiments  and  standing  in. 
the  community  upon  recovery.  Statistics  of  the  proportion, 
of  insanity  cases  which  are  curable  are  not  abundant.  Yet 
reliable  statements  place  it  at  from  one-fourth  to  one-third. 
Even  higher  estimates  are  made.  Nearly  one-fourth  admitted 
to  the  state  hospitals  are  cured,  80  per  cent,  of  these  within  a 
year.  Many  others  are  discharged  sufficiently  improved  to 
return  to  their  homes.  "  It  is  estimated  that  avoidable  cases 
of  insanity  account  for  about  50  per  cent,  of  the  patients  un- 
der treatment."  6 

The  following  reasons  are  given  for  the  maintenance  in 
each  county  or  small  group  of  counties  of  a  separate  detention 
hospital  for  the  incipient  insane. 

(1)  Incarceration  in  local  jails  (frequently  used)  should 
never  be  resorted  to.  The  individuals  afflicted  are  subjects 
not  criminals.  Moreover,  violent  behaviour  of  inmates,  such 

e  Ex-Governor  Hughes  of  New  York,  "  Why  Should  Any  One  Go 
Insane?  "  State  Charity  Aid  Association,  New  York  City. 


RURAL  CHARITY  AND  CORRECTION      2T5 

as  of  violent  inebriates,  is  likely  to  result  in  harm  in  develop- 
ing the  trouble. 

(2)  The  subject  of  acute  mania  should  have  advantage 
of  a  temporary  test  because  of  the  stigma  which  attaches  to 
having  been  an  inmate  of  an  "  asylum."     Besides,  the  aver- 
sion to  this  mode  of  treatment  on  the  part  of  the  subject  and 
friends  prevents  that  early  treatment  which  might  check  the 
development  of  the  attack. 

(3)  The  effects  of  a  demented  person  on  the  people  in  the 
vicinity,  especially  the  children,  is  bad  and  should  be  removed 
as  soon  as  possible.     The  reverse  is  also  true,  for  the  subject 
is  necessarily  subject  to  many  deteriorating  influences  in  the 
home. 

(4)  It  is  estimated  that  the  average  cost  of  a  permanent 
insane  subject  in  Illinois  is  about  $6,000,  a  sum  to  be  es- 
caped if  possible.     Let  us  suppose  that  each  patient  treated 
in  a  detention  hospital  should  cost  $1,000.     In  recovering 
ten  people  the  state  and  community  would  save  an  item  of 
$50,000. 

(5)  To  give  a  chance  for  training  to  coming,  and  prac- 
tising physicians  in  the  detection  and  treatment  of  psychical 
disturbances   and  diseases  may  be  an  object.     This  is,  of 
course,  a  somewhat  incidental  consideration,  but  when  we 
remember  that  few  physicians  have  had  any  training  in  the 
psychology  of  mental  disorders  and  that  the  community  is 
dependent  on  their  knowledge  in  such  cases,  their  equipment 
becomes  a  matter  of  great  importance. 

Says  Dr.  Frederick  Peterson,  "  We  have  emergency  hos- 
pitals for  broken  bones  or  acute  fevers;  but  when  the  most 
important  organ  of  the  body,  the  brain,  becomes  affected  with 
an  acute  disease,  the  emergency  hospital  is  the  jail.  This 
deplorable  condition  of  affairs  has  led  to  a  steadily  increas- 
ing agitation  of  the  subject  of  emergency  hospitals  for  the 
insane.  It  is  an  axiom  among  physicians  versed  in  psychia- 
try that  early  diagnosis  and  speedy  treatment  are  of  para- 


276       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

mount  importance  in  nearly  all  cases  of  acute  insanity. 
Surely,  nothing  could  be  worse  for  a  delirious  mind  than  the 
sight  of  police  officials  and  prison  walls.  I  advocate,  there- 
fore, the  establishment  in  all  large  towns  and  cities  of  emer- 
gency pavilions  or  independent  hospitals  for  the  reception  of 
the  insane.  Two  small  wards  in  a  general  hospital,  or  a 
pavilion  in  connection  therewith,  will  suffice,"  in  large  towns. 

Jails  and  Lockups. —  The  work  of  correction  in  rural  com- 
munities is  carried  on  by  justice,  county,  and  district  courts, 
and  by  jails  and  lockups,  reformatories  and  prisons.  We  are 
more  concerned  with  the  institutions  which  are  located  close 
to  the  country  itself.  Without  describing  the  methods  and 
processes  in  common  use  let  us  consider  some  of  the  things 
which  should  be  done  to  make  the  work  of  correction  effective 
and  socially  safe. 

There  are  a  number  of  needed  improvements  relative  to 
jails  and  lockups.  First,  they  should  be  maintained  as  places 
of  detention  for  persons  awaiting  trial  rather  than  for  pur- 
poses of  punishment.  They  are  not  fitted  for  the  latter  be- 
cause they  have  not  facilities  for  giving  work  and  training 
of  a  curative  nature.  Idleness  is  demoralising.  Second, 
they  should  not  be  used  as  places  for  the  detention  of  wit- 
nesses since  this  mixes  the  innocent  and  criminal  in  a  con- 
taminating manner  and  places  a  stigma  on  the  witness. 
Third,  these  detention  places  should  be  built  to  permit  the 
entire  separation  of  prisoners  from  each  other  and  of  the 
sexes.  Very  few  local  institutions  admit  of  these  necessary 
precautions  against  the  contamination  of  the  beginners  by 
the  hardened  criminals,  and  of  the  humiliation  of  woman- 
hood. Fourth,  we  have  given  the  reasons  for  excluding  the 
insane  from  imprisonment.  Fifth,  youthful  offenders 
should  never  be  placed  in  the  position  of  being  regarded  as 
criminals  nor  should  they  be  thrust  in  with  grown  men,  per- 
haps of  the  professional  criminal  type.  The  one  crushes  the 
sense  of  innocence  and  freedom,  the  other  is  a  schooling  in 


EUEAL  CHAEITY  AND  CORRECTION   2W 

vicious  and  criminal  practices.  Sixth,  some  agency  of  a  com- 
petent nature  should  be  established  for  supervision  and  con- 
struction of  local  jails.  Our  common  jails  are  a  disgrace  to 
civilisation  in  nearly  all  particulars.  They  should  be  im- 
proved by  adequate  court  or  state  supervision.  Since  many 
inmates  are  later  sent  to  state  institutions  under  state  laws  it 
is  evident  that  the  state  has  authority  in  the  premises.  Su- 
pervision by  a  state  agency  obtains  in  Indiana,  Pennsylvania, 
New  York,  Minnesota,  Ohio,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Virginia, 
California,  and  Connecticut.  In  Indiana  a  county  board, 
whose  members  serve  without  pay,  cooperate  with  the  state 
board  of  charities.  In  that  state  the  state  board  may  con- 
demn a  jail,  and  has  secured  laws  excluding  juvenile  delin- 
quents, providing  a  police  matron  and  better  separation  of 
the  sexes. 

The  Probation  System  Needs  to  be  Extended  to  Rural 
Regions. —  The  New  York  State  Probation  Commission  re- 
gards the  "  extension  of  the  probation  system  in  the  rural 
section  of  the  state,  through  county  probation  officers,  as  very 
important.  The  social  conditions,  the  non-enforcement  of 
law  and  the  absence  of  preventive  agencies  in  many  of  the 
smaller  communities,  call  urgently  for  probationary  meth- 
ods." The  report  of  the  Commission  for  1909  says: 
"  Much  of  the  shif tlessness,  lawlessness,  truancy,  vice,  and 
crime  in  rural  places  goes  uncorrected.  Before  anything 
effective  is  done  to  check  the  wayward  tendencies-  in  children 
'and  the  rowdyism  in  young  men,  the  evils  often  become  so 
grave  as  to  be  beyond  remedy.  Some  of  the  worst  criminals 
and  the  most  degenerate  families  in  the  state  have  grown  up 
in  small  communities.  In  the  absence  of  probation,  prac- 
tically the  only  course  available  is  commitment  to  jail,  and 
this  rarely  does  good,  and  in  many  cases  does  harm."  7 

In  case  county  probation  officers  cannot  be  obtained  or 
until  they  are  provided,  voluntary  associations  with  special 

i  Survey,  May  21,  1910,  pp.  304-5. 


278      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

appointees  to  act  as  such  should  be  organised.  Justice  courts 
are  not  proper  tribunals  for  handling  juvenile  cases  because 
the  officers  have  no  training  and  insight  for  such  duties.  A 
specially  selected  man  who  is  in  full  sympathy  with  children 
and  who  has  full  knowledge  of  the  methods  of  juvenile  courts 
and  probational  processes  is  the  only  one  competent  to  pre- 
vent youth  from  becoming  professional  delinquents. 

County  Welfare  Agencies. —  It  is  possible  that  county 
forces  might  sustain  a  "  Charity  Organisation."  The  fed- 
erated forces  of  cities  cooperate  to  prevent  duplication  of 
work,  confusion  in  relief,  wasteful  methods  of  administration, 
and  the  building  up  rather  than  the  curtailment  of  a  depend- 
ent population.  Should  representatives  of  the  schools, 
churches,  poor  officials  and  the  various  occupations  of  rural 
districts  get  together  they  could  maintain  a  county  associated 
charities.  A  council  or  board  of  directors  with  full  power 
to  act  should  be  chosen.  This  would  provide  the  supporting 
and  directing  power  to  the  undertaking.  An  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  active  and  wide-awake  representatives  would 
work  out  lines  of  action  and  see  that  they  were  followed.  A 
finance  committee,  a  survey  committee  for  making  a  survey 
of  existing  conditions,  a  medical  committee  and  a  visitation 
or  friendly  visitors'  committee,  are  some  of  the  useful  com- 
mittees. 

The  function  which  such  a  county  organisation  could  per- 
form are  many.  The  more  prominent  and  fundamental  ones 
are  cooperation  with  indoor  and  outdoor  relief;  the  protec- 
tion of  children  from  life  in  an  almshouse ;  discovering  and 
securing  the  transmission  of  defective  persons,  such  as  the 
feeble-minded,  the  deaf,  and  the  blind,  to  appropriate  insti- 
tutions ;  suppression  of  vagrancy  by  securing  the  general  ap- 
plication of  the  work  test  or  the  passage  of  colony  laws; 
initiating  and  conducting  work  that  would  help  to  prevent 
the  production  of  dependency;  and  cooperation  with  city 
charity  organisations. 


EUEAL  CHAKITY  AND  COEEECTION      279 

A  yearly  meeting  of  the  united  forces  would  be  stimula- 
tive. Other  county  organisations  have  such  gatherings,  the 
county  Sunday  School  Association  especially.  With  reports 
of  work  accomplished,  discussion  of  conditions  and  methods 
of  improvement,  speeches  and  papers,  the  session  could  be 
made  educative  and  promotive  of  the  larger  good. 

Recent  reform  movements  have  given  birth  to  the  Board 
of  Public  Welfare  of  cities,  and  the  Public  Welfare  League 
of  Kansas.  A  suggestion  has  been  made  that  counties  organ- 
ise a  county  Board  of  Public  Welfare  which  should  be  the 
legalised  agency  for  conducting  the  affairs  of  charity,  de- 
linquency, health,  employment,  etc.8 

a  "  A  Plan  for  Co-ordinating  State  Public  Welfare  Work,"  L.  A.  Hal- 
bet,  Survey,  28;  660-661. 

REFERENCES 

Henderson,  C.  R.  "Modern  Methods  of  Charity,"  on  treatment  of 
vagrants  in  Australia,  pp.  310-311;  "Dependents,  Defectives  and  De- 
linquents," Part  II  and  Part  IV;  and  The  Annals  of  the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Political  and  Social  Science,  March,  1912,  p.  228,  "  Rural  Police." 

"  A  Plan  for  Coordinating  State  Public  Welfare  Work."  L.  A.  Hal- 
bet,  Survey,  28:  660-661. 

Parsons,  Frank.  "  The  Story  of  New  Zealand,"  Chap.  51 ;  and  "  Pol- 
itics in  New  Zealand,"  Chap.  26. 

Blackmar,  F.  W.  "  Social  Degeneration  in  Towns  and  Rural  Dis- 
tricts," "National  Conference  Charities  and  Correction,"  1900,  pp.  115- 
124. 

Dugdale.     "  The  Jukes." 

Peterson,  Frederick,  M.D.,  Pres.  of  the  New  York  State  Commission 
of  Lunacy.  "  The  Essentials  of  an  Adequate  System  of  Care  for  the 
Insane,"  "National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,"  1902,  pp. 
166-8. 

Bonett.  "  Hospitals  for  the  Acute  and  Recoverable  Insane,"  same, 
1907,  p.  397  ff. 

"  Why  Should  Any  One  go  Insane?"  Folks  &  El  wood.  State  Chari- 
ties Aid  Association,  New  York  City. 

"  Programme  to  Prevent  Increase  of  Insanity."  Survey,  January  7, 
1911,  pp.  523-4. 

Brown,  D.  C.  "  State  Supervision  of  County  and  Municipal  Prisons 
and  Homes  for  the  Poor."  '*  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections," 1910,  pp.  303-7. 


280      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

The  Survey,  May  21,  1910,  pp.  304-5. 

Indiana  Bulletin  of  Charities  and  Correction,  March,  1906,  p.  71  ff.; 
and  "The  Development  of  Public  Charities  in  Indiana,"  Indianapolis, 
1905. 

"  The  Kallikak  Family."    H.  H.  Goddard. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

BUBAL    SO.CIAL    SURVEYS 
I.    IMPORTANCE    OP    THE    SURVEY 

Value  in  City  Life. —  A  work  on  rural  life  would  be  in- 
complete should  it  fail  to  develop  the  thought  of  the  social 
survey  in  its  application  to  rural  communities.  The  survey 
concept  is  comparatively  new,  although  in  a  certain  sense 
all  censuses  from  those  of  ancient  Semitic  nations  and  the 
Domesday  Book  of  William  the  First  of  England  down  to 
modern  national  and  state  censuses  are  approaches  to  making 
surveys.  Scientific  methods  require  time  to  grow  and  be- 
come perfected  and  the  social  survey  as  an  objective  method 
of  obtaining  facts  relative  to  community  life  has  *developed 
and  must  still  be  subjected  to  criticism,  experience,  and  im- 
provement before  it  may  be  called  a  perfected  scientific 
method  of  the  social  sciences. 

In  recent  times  the  survey  ideal  has  taken  root  in  the  city. 
It  has  sprung  out  of  a  practical  attempt  to  obtain  informa- 
tion about  urban  conditions  so  that  certain  abuses  might  be 
removed  and  social  problems  solved.  Perhaps  Charles 
Booth's  investigations  in  London  during  seventeen  years,  the 
results  of  which  appeared  in  his  "  Life  and  Labour  of  the 
People  of  London,0'  may  be  called  the  beginning  of  the  mod- 
ern survey.  Similar  investigations,  though  not  so  extensive, 
have  been  conducted  by  various  individuals  in  American 
cities. 

In  cities  life  is  so  complicated,  conditions  are  so  numerous 
and  enmeshed,  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  mere  individual 
to  prosecute  the  work  of  a  survey  which  shall  be  general  with 

281 


'282       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

fulness  and  precision.  As  a  consequence  organised  efforts 
have  undertaken  the  work  and  we  have  the  "  Pittsburg  sur- 
vey/' and  the  "  Buffalo  survey,"  as  their  noted  examples. 
Other  cities  are  making  inventories  of  city  conditions  with  a 
view  to  projecting  plans  for  the  direction  of  their  future  de- 
velopment. 

The  value  of  the  survey  is  ohvious.  Before  beginning  to 
construct  its  line  of  railway  a  railway  corporation  sends  out 
its  corps  of  engineers  who  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  charac- 
ter of  the  territory  through  which  it  is  proposed  to  construct 
the  line  relative  to  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  projec- 
tion and  construction.  Besides  this  other  experts  have  gath- 
ered data  as  to  the  resources  of  the  region  in  order  to  demon- 
strate a  certain  basis  for  profitable  traffic  after  the  road  has 
been  built.  No  material  fact  is  left  out  of  account  which 
throws  light  on  the  nature  of  the  undertaking.  Hundreds 
of  millions  of  dollars  will  be  required  to  develop  the  project 
and  absolute  accuracy  and  certainty  is  demanded  to  warrant 
this  expenditure. 

The  city  is  a  permanent  collective  entity.  It  is  to  be  the 
home  of  human  beings  far  into  the  future.  Human  welfare 
is  at  stake.  Complicated  conditions  bring  abuses  and  prob- 
lems. Remedies  and  solutions  must  be  founded  on  accurately 
ascertained  facts.  To  gather  the  facts  about  all  phases  of  city 
life  and  to  plat  and  map  the  conditions  as  they  exist  for  the 
direction  of  present  and  future  efforts  at  betterment  is  as 
important  and  necessary  in  the  case  of  the  city  as  in  that 
of  the  railway. 

The  practical  benefits  of  the  urban  survey  have  appeared. 
Pittsburg  has  undertaken  the  regeneration  of  its  civic  life 
as  a  consequence  of  its  survey.  Other  cities  have  been  awak- 
ened to  the  consciousness  of  their  untoward  conditions  be- 
cause of  the  revelations  in  Pittsburg  and  are  moving  to  take 
action.  The  Buffalo  survey  involved  only  the  conditions  of 
the  70,000  or  80,000  Poles  who  live  in  that  city,  a  popula- 


RURAL  SOCIAL  SURVEYS  283 

i 

tion  not  known  by  the  municipality  nor  understood  by  itself. 
Since  the  survey,  "  in  place  of  general  ignorance  and  either 
indifference  or  vague  talk  of  a  '  problem/  have  been  substi- 
tuted an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  the  Poles; 
and  aroused  interest,  on  the  part  of  the  general  local  public 
and  of  the  Poles  themselves,  in  those  conditions;  the  begin- 
nings of  a  movement  of  cooperation,  for  betterment  and  mu- 
tual advantage,  between  the  Poles  and  the  rest  of  the  com- 
munity; and  withal,  a  clearly  defined  question  of  social 
economy."  l 

Additional  value  attaches  to  the  survey  from  the  fact  that 
it  furnishes  an  accurate  objective  scientific  method  which  the 
social  sciences  may  use  to  their  advantage. 

Value  in  Rural  Life. —  Several  reasons  exist  why  the  sur- 
vey idea  took  root  in  cities  first.  The  social  problems  arose 
there  earliest  to  demand  consideration.  It  became  necessary 
to  chart  the  conditions,  consequently,  in  order  to  solve  the 
problems  satisfactorily.  Again  the  community  idea  is  more 
perceptible  in  the  city.  The  city  is  a  definitely  bounded  and 
compacted  aggregation.  Therefore  the  suggestion  is  likely 
to  occur  there  before  it  arises  in  the  country  that  all  the  facts 
and  conditions  relative  to  this  clearly  defined  object  may  be 
obtained.  Where  the  community  idea  is  clouded  and  the 
boundaries  between  communities  are  not  conspicuously  vis- 
ible, as  is  the  case  in  the  country,  the  undertaking  to  secure 
a  neighbourhood  reconnaissance  appears  vague.  Until  the 
prism  separated  the  rays  of  sunlight  into  distinct  groups  it 
was  not  thought  possible  to  chart  the  spectrum.  Now  the 
twenty-one  colours  of  the  normal  spectrum  with  their  bound- 
ary lines  may  be  designated.  Rural  life  surveys  have  had  to 
await  the  development  of  the  analysis  of  country  life  con- 
ditions and  the  defining  of  rural  communities  as  such.  We 
now  know  enough  about  rural  communities  to  undertake  the 
application  of  the  survey  to  them. 

i" National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction/'  1910,  p.  23f. 


284      CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

The  value  of  the  rural  survey  rests  on  the  reply  to  the 
questions,  Does  the  country  need  to  know  anything  about 
itself?  Has  the  rural  community  any  pressing  problems? 
If  this  volume  is  true  these  questions  must  be  answered  in 
the  affirmative.  We  have  discovered  many  problems  in 
country  life.  Some  of  these  problems  are  those  of  local  com- 
munities and  must  be  solved  largely  by  developing  an  appre- 
ciation on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  those  communities 
of  the  conditions  lying  beneath  those  problems.  Some  of 
the  rural  problems  are  inter-community  matters  and  await 
the  development  of  intercommunity  cooperation.  The  first 
set  of  problems  because  of  their  localised  nature  may  appro- 
priately be  subjected  to  the  rural  social  survey.  If  a  survey 
of  the  conditions  which  underlie  the  second  group  of  prob- 
lems is  to  be  undertaken  it  must  be  on  a  very  large  scale, 
calling  for  the  effort  of  state  or  nation. 

Since  the  country  has  its  problems  and  since  their  solution 
awaits  the  discovery  of  the  exact  terms  entering  into  the 
problem  the  inference  is  forced  upon  us  that  a  rural  survey 
which  discovered  the  conditions  of  any  of  its  problems  would 
be  of  great  value.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  survey  has  been 
applied  to  certain  rural  matters.  In  order  to  discover  how 
to  secure  the  best  returns  from  the  soil  both  national  and 
state  agricultural  experts  have  been  making  surveys  to  de- 
termine the  location  of  the  different  kinds  of  soils.  A  coun- 
terpart of  this  is  to  discover  what  plants  will  thrive  best  on 
each  of  these  soils.  These  terms  being  found  the  problem 
has  found  its  solution.  What  now  remains  to  be  done  to 
make  the  application  of  the  survey  to  the  country  complete 
is  to  follow  this  same  procedure  relative  to  matters  of  edu- 
cation, of  labour,  of  church,  of  recreation,  culture,  associa- 
tional  matters,  and  so  on,  until  the  whole  is  covered.  It  is 
in  line  with  all  similar  scientific  undertakings  to  conclude 
that  the  compensation  to  rural  community  welfare  resulting 
from  the  survey  will  be  rich  beyond  peradventure. 


RUKAL  SOCIAL  SURVEYS  285 

Relative  Ease  of  Making  a  Rural  Survey. —  As  compared 
with  the  work  of  making  an  urban  survey  that  of  a  rural 
community  is  simple  and  easy.  To  make  a  complete  com- 
munity survey  would  be  to  discover  and  record  all  the  essen- 
tial facts  which  bear  in  any  way  upon  the  welfare  of  the 
community.  In  our  chapter  on  the  distinction  between  the 
urban  and  rural  community  it  was  discovered  that  while 
the  city  is  a  very  distinctly  localised  and  bounded  object  of 
investigation  it  is  also  a  medley  of  associational  relations. 
It  is  therefore  exceedingly  difficult  to  gather  together  all  the 
facts  relative  to  urban  life  and  to  so  rationally  relate  and 
organise  them  that  they  will  give  an  unbiased  and  accurate 
account  of  the  community  in  its  entirety.  In  fact  a  full- 
orbed,  exhaustive  urban  survey  has  never  yet  been  under- 
taken. Every  survey  which  has  yet  been  made  has  been 
partial.  Certain  individual  surveys  have  been  somewhat  ex- 
haustive in  their  plan  but  incomplete  in  their  facts.2  Sur- 
veys undertaken  by  organisations  or  cities  have  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  investigation  of  certain  aspects  of  city  life. 

When  we  turn  to  rural  communities  we  find  them  simple 
in  constitution  although  their  exact  perimeters  are  not  easily 
designated.  The  latter  difficulty  is,  however,  light  as  com- 
pared with  that  arising  from  the  constitutional  complexity 
of  the  city.  It  would  not  be  difficult  for  the  trained  investi- 
gator to  gather  and  chart  the  essential  conditions  of  a  given 
rural  neighbourhood.  The  live  pastor  and  the  virile  educa- 
tor should  each  be  able  to  accomplish  this  for  the  adaptation 
and  direction  of  their  respective  sociological  functions. 

II.    NATURE   OP    THE    SURVEY 

Kinds  of  Surveys. —  Surveys  may  be  partial  and  general. 
They  may  also  be  scientific  or  practical.  These  two  groups 

a  Such  for  instance  as  T.  J.  Riley's  "  The  Higher  Life  of  Chicago,"  and 
the  earlier  "  Culture  Agencies  of  a  Typical  Manufacturing  Group  — 
South  Chicago,"  by  the  present  writer. 


286       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

of  surveys  are  not  exclusive  of  each  other.  Both  a  partial 
and  general  survey  may  at  the  same  time  be  either  scientific 
or  practical.  Clearness  requires  a  brief  characterisation  of 
each. 

1.  The  partial  survey  consists  in  the  investigation,  collec- 
tion, and  rationalisation  of  the  facts  relative  to  any  partic- 
ular section  of  community  life.     The  labour  factor  of  a 
neighbourhood  might  be  studied.     The  study  would  embrace 
the  number,  character,  and  quality  of  the  labourers,  wages, 
conditions  of  living,  relation  of  workers  in  various  relation- 
ships to  other  residents  of  the  community,  defects  of  the  la- 
bour system  for  the  labourers  and  for  the  community,  etc. 
The  educator  might  investigate  all  the  conditions  bearing  on 
education  in  his  school  district,  or  study  some  particular 
phase  of  the  educational  situation.     The  latter  study  might 
consider  the  play  conditions  of  the  district.     This  would  em- 
brace such  considerations,  as  the  number,  ages,  and  sex  of  the 
children,  facilities  for  play  in  the  homes,  neighbourhood,  and 
school,  nature  of  their  play  whether  individual  or  organised, 
possibility  and  advantages  of  organised  play  in  school,  or 
elsewhere,  including  cost  of  equipment  and  direction.     The 
philosophy  of  the  function  of  play  in  the  life  of  the  individ- 
ual   and   society   would    constitute    a   background   for   the 
direction   of  the  investigation   and   the  conclusions   drawn 
from  it. 

2.  The  general  survey  would  attempt  to  obtain  an  exact 
knowledge  of  all  the  essential  facts  of  the  community.     It 
seeks  to  know  the  community  in  its  entirety  and  the  condi- 
tions of  the  community  in  their  interrelationships  and  inter- 
dependencies.     Whatever  the  purpose  of  the  survey  may  be 
it  is  certain  that  the  more  complete  and  accurate  the  collec- 
tion of  facts  can  be  made  the  truer  to  life  and  reality  will 
the  conclusions  be.     In  this  survey  hardly  any  condition, 
whether  individual  or  collective  in  its  appearance,  is  too  in- 
significant to  be  regarded.     The  musical  tastes  of  a  domestic 


RURAL  SOCIAL  SURVEYS  287 

or  the  inventive  tendencies  of  a  farmer's  boy  may  have  a 
significance  for  the  life  of  rural  communities. 

3.  In  their  purpose  surveys  may  be  practical  or  scientific. 
A  survey  is  practical  when  it  has  for  its  immediate  aim  the 
improvement  of  some  particular  phase  of  neighbourhood  life 
or  of  the  general  life  of  the  community.  Most  of  the  sur- 
veys so  far  have  been  immediately  utilitarian  in  their  aim. 

A  survey  is  scientific  when  it  is  made  to  serve  merely  scien- 
tific uses  immediately.  A  student  of  society  might  investi- 
gate the  conditions  of  city  or  country  in  order  to  understand 
the  nature  of  such  communities.  If  taught  to  or  published 
for  others  this  would  enlarge  the  scientific  knowledge  of  such 
communities.  This,  however,  would  not  prevent  it  from  be- 
ing useful  ultimately.  It  may  be  said  that  rural  sociology 
stands  quite  as  much  in  need  of  such  studies  as  rural  welfare 
demands  practical  surveys  on  the  part  of  well  equipped  work- 
ers. 

What  a  Sociological  Survey  Should  Contain. —  1.  The  na- 
ture of  the  contents  will  measurably  depend  on  the  purpose 
of  the  survey,  (a)  The  partial  survey  will  contain  such 
considerations  as  are  pertinent  to  its  inquiry.  Thus  a  church 
survey  will  gather  all  facts  which  bear  on  church  life  at  the 
least.  No  doubt  the  contents  actually  gathered  will  depend 
on  the  training  and  outlook  of  the  investigator.  Economic 
conditions  might  be  studied  from  either  or  both  of  two  view- 
points: as  a  basis  of  the  material  resources  of  the  church, 
or  with  a  view  to  considering  economic  conditions  as  a  basis 
of  social  welfare.  In  the  same  manner  the  birth-rate  of  the 
community  might  be  studied  as  affecting  the  future  member- 
ship of  the  church,  or  as  reflecting  the  ethical  views  of  resi- 
dents relative  to  family  matters.  Thus  the  view-point  of  the 
investigator  will  broaden  or  narrow  the  scope  of  the  investiga- 
tion. Scarcely  any  fact  exists  which  might  not  be  of  value 
to  the  conducting  of  a  church  for  social  welfare  purposes. 
If  its  aim  is  merely  doctrinal  and  individualistic,  on  the  other 


288       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

hand,  a  survey  is  hardly  necessary,  save  for  reasons  of  ex- 
pediency. But  if  its  aim  is  broadly  social  it  must  under- 
stand the  community  sociologically,  that  is  in  its  entirety. 

What  has  been  said  about  the  church  survey  holds  true  of 
those  which  might  be  made  by  educators,  doctors,  farmers, 
etc.  Each  of  these  persons  may  take  the  individualistic  view 
of  his  calling.  In  this  case  a  survey  would  be  difficult  to 
justify.  But  if  he  views  himself  or  his  work  as  having  a 
social  function,  and  if  he  has  in  mind  the  social  welfare,  his 
survey  must  embrace  practically  every  fact  in  order  that  he 
and  his  function  may  find  their  right  social  relationship. 
Then  the  conclusions  drawn  from  the  survey  will  relate  to  the 
adaptation  of  his  calling  to  advance  the  good  of  the  com- 
munity rather  than  to  the  community  welfare  in  general. 
Thus  the  preacher  will  draw  conclusions  relative  to  making 
his  church  the  best  possible  social  service  church  under  the 
given  conditions ;  and  no  doubt  also  how  to  make  it  better  the 
conditions. 

(b)  The  general  survey  must  tabulate  all  contents  of  what- 
ever character  because  the  aim  of  the  survey  is  as  broad  as 
the  whole  of  the  community  in  question.  This  survey  would 
be  undertaken  to  afford  a  prospectus  of  community  conditions 
which  would  be  competent  to  serve  either  general  or  special 
purposes.  It  should  help  the  control  and  direction  of  com- 
munity conditions  in  general.  It  should  be  available  for  the 
control  and  direction  of  any  division  of  labour,  institution, 
or  group  of  individuals.  It  should  shed  light  on  how  to  up- 
lift and  improve  the  community  as  a  community.  It  should 
prompt  a  conclusion  as  to  what  the  church,  the  school,  the 
home,  or  any  other  institution  or  division  of  labour  should 
be  and  undertake.  It  is  assumed  that  the  investigator  pos- 
sesses a  knowledge  of  other  community  conditions  which  will 
serve  to  regulate  conclusions  relative  to  the  region  surveyed. 

2.  A  somewhat  approximate  scheme  for  the  direction  of 
rural  surveys  may  be  suggested  but  must  not  be  regarded  as 


RURAL  SOCIAL  SURVEYS  289 

final.  The  schedules  and  tabulations  under  each  of  them  are 
intended  to  suggest  and  to  comprehend  the  important  facts 
to  be  gathered. 

Schedule  A,  Physical  conditions. 
Altitude. 
Topography. 

Precipitation  of  moisture. 

Average  and  extremes  of  temperature  by  seasons. 
Prevailing  winds,  velocity. 
Length  and  character  of  seasons. 
Kinds  of  soil. 
Forests. 

Mineral  resources. 
Streams  and  lakes. 

Schedule  B,  Elements  of  population. 

Number  of  inhabitants  by  age  and  sex. 
Number  and  size  of  families. 
Widows,  widowers,  orphans. 
Nationalities:  number,  age,  sex. 

Education  and  Americanising  quality  of  immigrants. 
Tendencies  in  population  towards  transiency  and  racial  displace- 
ment; increase  or  decrease. 

Schedule  C,  Economic  factors. 
Number  and  size  of  farms. 
Conditions  of  agriculture. 

Methods  of  farming. 

Acreage  and  yield  of  crops. 

Amount  and  quality  of  stock  and  poultry. 

Buildings,  machinery,  and  equipment. 
Marketing. 

Proximity  of  markets. 

Profit  of  farmer  from  marketing. 

Organisations  to  improve  prices  and  marketing. 
Number  and  characteristics  of  renters. 
Labourers  and  labour  conditions. 

Wages,  hours. 

Conditions  of  living. 
Comparative  rate  of  taxes,  interest. 
Mortgages. 

Schedule  D,  Political  conditions. 
Character  of  local  government. 


290       CONSTRUCTIVE  RURAL  SOCIOLOGY 

Quality  of  officers. 
Political  ideas  and  parties. 
Voting  population. 

Schedule  E,  Religious  conditions. 

Number  and  strength  of  denominations. 
Number  of  churches,  size  of  membership,  congregations. 
Character  of  pastors:  education,  view-point. 
Individualistic  or  socialised  character  of  church  work. 
Equipment  of  plants  for  community  work. 
Auxiliary  societies. 

Schedule  F,  Cultural  conditions. 
Schools. 

Number. 

School  attendance  by  age  and  sex. 
Teachers  by  age  and  sex. 

Equipment  of  buildings   as   to  light,  heat,   sanitation,   desks, 
blackboards,   charts,   reference  works,   laboratories,   toilet, 
water,  athletics,  organised  play,  domestic  science,  agricul- 
ture, industrial,  and  manual  training,  playgrounds. 
Character  of  course  of  study. 
Culture  clubs  for  men,  women,  and  children. 
Public  libraries:  equipment,  patronage. 
Newspapers  and  periodicals:  circulation  and  character. 
Institutes,  chautauquas,  lectures. 

Schedule  G,  Community  psychology. 

Public  opinion:  strong  or  weak;  united  or  divisive;  emotional  or 

rational. 

Ideals:  high  or  low,  socialised  or  individualistic. 
Capacity  to  lead  and  respond  to  leadership. 
Race  or  class  prejudice;  feuds;  cliques. 

Schedule  H,  Transportation  and  communication. 
Location  and  condition  of  roads. 

Method  of  transit;  wagon,  carriage,  horseback,  automobile,  trolley. 
Use  of  telephone,  rural  delivery,  etc. 
Organisations  for  improvement. 

Schedule  I,  Esthetic  conditions. 

Appearance  of  landscape:  improved  or  unimproved,  marred,  or  re- 
garded. 

Appearance  of  homes,  barns,  outbuildings,  fences,  forestry,  nd 
fields. 

Appearance  of  interior  of  homes. 


POPULATION 

1890  1900 

Americus                             544  462 

Michigan                               369  279 

Buxton                               1021  1110 
Stavanger     (Org'd  1908) 

Reynolds  389 


RURAL,  SOCIAL  SURVEYS  291 

Schedule  J,  Recreation. 
Recreation  clubs. 
Games  and  sports. 
Entertainments. 
Places  and  equipment  for  such  activities. 

Schedule  K,  Health  conditions. 

Conditions  about  barns,  homes  and  other  structures. 

Methods  of  disposal  of  slops,  sewage,  garbage,  and  manures. 

Undrained  swamps. 

Character  of  water  supply. 

Heating,   lighting,   and   sanitation   of  public   buildings:    churches, 

"  schools,  halls,  etc. 
Diseased  animals. 

Housekeeping:  preparation  and  care  of  foods,  milk,  vegetables. 
Care  of  infectious  diseases. 
Treatment  of  sick  or  defective  school  children. 

Schedule  L,  Pathological  conditions. 
Degenerate  classes  and  influences. 
Number,  age,  sex  of  dependents. 
Number,  age,  sex  of  criminals. 
Number,  age,  sex  of  defectives. 

Idiots,  feeble-minded,  insane,  epileptics. 

Character  of  institutions  for  care  of  defectives,  dependents,  and  de- 
linquents. 

Methods  and  quality  of  relief  work. 
Methods  and  care  of  dependent  children. 
Preventive  and  ameliorative  agencies. 

Additional  interest  and  insight  may  be  gained  by  the  con- 
struction of  accompanying  maps  and  graphic  representations. 
The  chief  features  of  statistical  tabulations  should  be  plotted 
on  thick  paper,  cardboard,  or  even  cloth  for  the  purpose  of 
public  display.  Comparative  black  lines  and  spaces  are  ef- 
fective devices  for  attracting  attention  and  presenting  the 
truth  in  a  short  time. 

The  accompanying  map  of  a  rural  Methodist  parish  pre- 
sents some  of  the  more  important  surface  facts  which  may 
be  represented  on  a  map.  It  was  made  by  the  pastor  of  the 
parish,  Mr.  S.  S.  Wyand,  a  graduate  student  of  the  writer. 
The  parish  is  located  in  an  almost  perfectly  level  region. 


292       CONSTRUCTIVE  RUEAL  SOCIOLOGY 

The  coulees  are  slight  depressions,  dry  during  most  of  the 
time  but  furnishing  a  drainage  in  wet  weather.  The  location 
of  the  homes  gives  an  idea  of  their  distance  from  each  other. 
Reynolds,  in  which  the  church  is  located,  is  a  rural  village 
of  about  500  inhabitants.  The  railway  and  the  Meridian 
Road  are  the  chief  transportation  features  of  the  community, 
although  fairly  good  roads  exist  on  most  section  lines.  Only 
enough  families  were  located  to  indicate  the  frequency  of 
homes.  The  size  of  farms  is  indicated  at  the  right  of  the 
Great  Northern  Railway  only. 

REFERENCES 

"The  Social  Survey:  Its  Reasons,  Methods,  and  Results."  John  Dan- 
iels, "Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,"  1910:  236-40. 

"  Sociology  and  Social  Surveys."  T.  J.  Riley,  American  Journal  So- 
ciology, 16:818-33. 

"  The  Application  of  the  Social  Survey  to  the  Small  Community." 
J.  L.  Gillen,  "Publication  of  the  American  Sociological  Society,"  Vol. 
VI:  70-81. 

"  The  Small  City  and  the  Survey."     World  To-day,  21 : 828-32. 

"  The  Survey  Idea  in  Country  Life  Work."  L.  H.  Bailey,  Rural  Man- 
hood, October,  1911,  p.  253  ff. 

"The  Pittsburg  Survey."  Charities,  January  2,  1909:  515-638;  Feb- 
ruary, 6:  784-950;  March  6:  1035-1194. 

-"Community  Study."  Warren  H.  Wilson,  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  New  York,  1911. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  N.  C.,  237,  262. 
Absentee  landlordism,  135-137. 
Accidents,  among  farm  labourers, 

144,  145. 

Accounting  on  farm,  92,  93,  178. 
Acreage,  127,   128. 
Adams,  S.  H.,  88. 
Agricultural  colleges,  256  ff. 

criticism,  256,  257. 

relation  to  farming,  256. 
Agricultural  communities,  types  of, 

20-31. 
Agricultural   High    Schools,    259. 

(Also  see  Education.) 
Agriculture,  importance  of,  4-6. 

sociological  implication  of,  77. 

science  applied  to,  80,  81. 

experts  in,  98,  99. 
Allen,  W.  H.,  166. 
Altruism,  promoted  by  play,  191. 
American  Society  of  Equity.     (See 

Society  of  Equity.) 
Amusements.     (See  Recreation.) 
Anderson,  W.  L.,  56. 
Animals  and  insects,  155-157. 
Animal  play,  190,  191. 
Arbor  Day,  201,  202. 
Armstrong,  H.  P.,  231. 
Artesian  wells,  152. 
Associational  life,  12-14. 

to  promote  solidarity,  193,  194. 

desirability  of,   188-195. 

(See  Community.) 
Atkinson,  0.  E.,  232. 
Ayers,  L.  P.,  166,  167. 


Backward  communities,  28-31. 

Bacteria,   158,   159. 

Bailey,  L.  H.,  31,  45,  56,  59,  76, 

108,  165,  182,  199,  216,  224, 

231,  243,  262. 
Barns.     (See  Buildings.) 
Bathroom,  175. 
Seashore,  H.  V.,  166. 
Behring,  158. 

Birth-rate  and  food  supply,  35,  36. 
Excess  over  death  rate,  36. 
Bishop,  E.  C.,  263. 
Blackmar,  F.  W.,  199,  267. 
Bogart,  E.  L.,  45. 
Bolton,  B.  M.,  166. 
Bonett,  279. 

Bookkeeping.     (See  Accounting.) 
Bookwalter,   14,  19,  56,  199. 
Boys*     and     Girls'     Agricultural 

Clubs,   216. 
(See  Young  People.) 
Boys'  Clubs,  202,  203. 
Brewer,  Dr.  I.  W.,  165,  166. 
Brown,  D.  C.,  279. 
Brown,  John,  232. 
Budlong,  Minnie  C.,  216. 
Bulletins.     (See  Reference  Lists.) 
Bullock,  31. 
Business  management  on  farm,  9&- 

109. 
Butterfind,  Kenyon  L.,  56,  76,  89, 

122,  195,  199,  216,  228,  231, 

262. 


Capitalistic  fanning,   129,    134. 
Carver,  T.  N.,  102,  109,  231. 


293 


294 


INDEX 


Cess-pools,  154,  155. 
Children, 
death  rate  in  country  and  city, 

60,  61. 

rearing  in  country,  70. 
diseases,  158. 
school,   162-166. 
city  and  country,  191,  192. 
clubs  for,  200,  201. 

(See  Boys,  Girls,  Young  Peo- 
ple.) 
Church, 

decadence  of  rural,  223  ff. 
function  of,  217  ff. 
improvement  of,  Chap.  15. 
methods    of    improving,    219  ff, 

227  ff. 
principles     regulating    what    it 

may  do,  219  ff. 
City,  activities,  11,  44. 
growth  and  complexity,  12. 
facts    and    sources    of    growth, 

32  ff. 

prestige  of,  51,  52. 
and  country,  55,  56,  169,  170. 
effect  on  health,  60. 
death  rates,  61-63. 

(See  Community.) 
Civilisation,  development  of,  77,  78. 
Relation    to    transportation,    110, 

111. 

Clow,  Prof.,  255. 
Clubs,  improvement,  200-232. 
boys',  202,  203. 
girls',  203. 

young  people's,  203,  204. 
women's,  204-207. 
Collective  mind,  17,  18. 
Coman,  Catherine,  45. 
Commercial  Clubs, 

on  rural  question,  116. 
compared  to  farmers'  clubs,  212. 
Communication,  196. 

(See  Transportation.) 


Community, 

distinction    between    rural    and 
urban,  9-19. 

types  of,  20-31. 

problems  in,  15,  16. 

socialisation  of,  185. 

as  a  neighbourhood,  192,  193. 
Consolidation     of     Schools.     (See 

Education. ) 
Cooperation,  in  family  life,  70,  71. 

value  of,  104. 

in  Denmark,  106-108. 

for  good  roads,   117,  118. 

in  buying  and  selling,  144. 

in  sanitation,  161. 

taught  by  play,  191. 

between  town  and  country  clubs, 
206. 

in  purchasing,  208. 
Cooperative    Activities,    promoted 

by  association,  189. 
Cooperative    demonstration    work, 

82,  83. 

Corbett,  L.  C.,  182,  263. 
Corbitt,  J.  C.,  183. 
Cornell  University,  58,  59. 
Corn-raising  communities,  22,  23. 
Corporations,  105. 

attitude   toward   road   improve- 
ment, 118. 

Cotton-raising  communities,  23-25. 
Coulter,  John  Lee,  89,  146. 
Country, 

loss  of  population,  33  ff. 

migrations,  38,  39. 

movement  to  city,  40-45. 

student  opinion  of,  57-59. 

effect  on  health,  59,  60. 

contact  with  nature,  64. 

social  evils,  64,  65. 

other  social  conditions,  65  ff. 

backwardness  of,  185-188. 

( See  Community,  and  City  and 
Country.) 


INDEX 


295 


Country  Life  Commission,  48,  49, 

109,  137,  141,  145. 
Country  Welfare  Agencies,  278. 
Crime,  65,  66,  140,  141. 
Crops,  statistics  of,  81. 
Crosby,  D.  J.,  263. 
Cultural   process   and  association, 

189,  190. 
Curtis,  Wm.  E.,  81,  108,  122. 


Dairying,  88. 

sanitary    requirements    of,    159, 

160. 

Davenport,  Dean  E.,  259,  262. 
Davis,  M.  M.,  263. 
Death-rates,   of   children   in   coun- 
try and  city,  60,  61. 

at  various  ages,  62,  63. 

in  country,  158,  159. 
Denmark,  as  object  lesson,  106-108. 
Devine,  E.  T.,  167. 
Dewey,  John,  13,  19,  242,  262. 
Diseases,  country  and  city,  61-63, 
157. 

transmissible,  160,  161. 

of  school  children,  162-165. 
(See  Sanitation,  Health.) 
Diversified  industry,  25,  180. 
Divorce,  67,  68. 
Dorset,  M.,  166. 
DuBois,  W.  E.  B.,  31. 
Dugdale,  279. 

Economics,  rural,  3,  4. 
Edgerton,  J.  A.,  216. 
Education,  pioneer,  27. 
country,  45,  71. 
school  consolidation,  114. 
for  good  roads,  116-118. 
for  sanitation,  150. 

(See  School.) 
compulsory,  193. 

(See  Libraries,  Farmers'  Or- 
ganisations. ) 


Education,  rural, 

adjustment  of,  Chap.  16. 

agricultural  colleges  and,  256  S. 

high  schools  and,  254. 

normal  schools  and,  255. 

rural  schools,  236  ff. 

sociological  demands,  233. 

universities  and,  254. 
Electrical  appliances  on  farm,  87, 

88. 

(See  Power.) 

Electricity.     (See  Motor  Power.) 
Ellwood,  C.  A.,  45,  76. 
Elwood,  E.  S.,  76. 
Engineer,  for  road  system  of  coun- 
try, 121,  122. 
Everitt,  G.  A.,  109,  216. 
Experts,  agricultural,  98,  99. 

Fairbanks,  Arthur,  19. 
Family  life,  on  farm,  70,  71. 
Farm,  its  life  and  other  activities, 

49,  50. 
advantages     and     disadvantages 

of,  57-76. 

independence  of,  68,  69. 
educative  value  of,  69. 
economic  disadvantages,  71,  72. 
labour,  72,  73. 

business  management,  90-109. 
marketing,  98-103. 
size  of,  127-129. 
operation  of,  130-137. 
ownership  of,  131-135. 
how   to   make   more   attractive, 

168-183. 
buildings,  170,  171. 

( See      Rural,      Communities, 

Country. ) 

Farmer,  an  individualist,  49. 
as  a  social  class,  50-52. 
wealth  of,  50. 
in  legislatures,  53. 
as  a  business  manager,  53,  54. 
(See  Farm.) 


296 


INDEX 


Farmer — continued. 

his  investment,  91,  92. 
Farmer's  Equity,  22. 

(See  Society  of  Equity.) 
Farmers'   Grain   Dealers    Associa- 
tions, 108. 
Farmers'  Organisations,  207-213. 

The  Grange,  207,  208. 

Institutes,  208-210. 

Society  of  Equity,  210,  211. 

Farmers'  Union,  211,  212. 

Clubs,  212,  213. 
Feeble-minded,  273. 
Fertilisers,  83,  153,  154. 
Fetherolf,  J.  M.,  182. 
Fetter,  F.  A.,  108. 
Filters,   152,   153. 
Filtration,  153,  154. 
Fisher,  Irving,  46,  76,  165,  167. 
Fleming,  W.  L.,  31. 
Fletcher,  Austin  B.,  122. 
Flies,  155,  156. 

(See  Insects.) 
Foder,  cited,  154. 
Foght,  H.  W.,  166,  216. 
Folks  and  Elwood,  279. 
Food  values,  79,  80,  157-160. 

choice  and  preparation  of,   148, 
149. 

sanitation  in  care  of,  176. 

study  of,  205,  206. 
Frontier.     (See  Pioneer.) 
Function  of  city  and  country,  10. 

Galloway,  B.  T.,  263. 

Games.     (See  Play.) 

Garbage,  153-155. 

Gard,  H.,  183. 

Gas  engine.     (See  Motor  Power.) 

Giddings,  F.  H.,  17. 

Gillette,  J.  M.,  45,  146,  199,  216, 

243,  261. 

Gillin,  J.  L.,  231,  292. 
Goddard,  H.  H.,  267,  280. 
Gold,  Guy  D.,  199. 


Goler,  Dr.  George,  158. 

Gompers,  212. 

Government    documents,    referred 

to.     ( See  References  at  close 

of  each  Chapter.) 
Graft,  in  road  administration,  120. 
Grain-raising  communities,  21,  22. 
Grange,  the,  207,  208. 
Groos,  Karl,  199. 

Grounds,  improvement  of,  180-182. 
Gulick,  L.  H.,  165,  167. 

Hageman,  J.  P.,  232. 

Halbert,  L.  A.,  279. 

Hall,  45. 

Hamilton,  John,  263. 

Harger,  C.  M.,  183. 

Harris,  W.  T.,  251. 

Hartt,  R.  L.,  45,  232. 

Harvester.     (See  Machinery.) 

Harwood,  88,   109. 

Hayes,  E.  C.,  231. 

Health,  of  farming  class,  59,  60. 

influenced  by  city  life,  60. 

rural,  147-167. 

(See  Sanitation.) 
Heating  Plant,  174,  175. 
Henderson,   C.   R,,    122,    146,   231, 

268,   279. 

Hessler,  Robert,  165. 
Hetherington,  C.  W.,  232. 
Hibbard,  B.  H.,  146. 
Higher  Education  and  rural  Edu- 
cation, 254  ff. 

additional  requirements,  258. 

agricultural  colleges,  256. 

high  schools,  254. 

normal  schools,  255. 

universities,  254. 
Hill,  George  G.,  182. 
Hill,  J.  J.,  5. 

Hogs,  source  of  disease,  158. 
Home,  care  of,  150,  151. 

building    and    improvement    of,- 
174-178. 


INDEX 


297 


Hosge,  C.  M.,  183. 

Household  work,  reduction  of,  149. 

(See  Servants.) 
Howard,  G.  O.,  166. 
Howe,  Frederick  C.,  56,  109. 
Hyde,  Henry  M.,  145. 


Immigrants,  137,  139. 

(See  Immigration,  Labour.) 
Immigration,  36-38. 

to  South,  139. 

Improvement  Clubs,  200-232. 
Improvement   of   rural   charitable 
and   corrective  institutions, 
269-279. 

county  welfare  agencies,  278. 

incipient  feeble-minded,  293. 

insanity,  274. 

indoor  relief,  270. 

jails  and  lockups,  276. 

legislation,  271. 

outdoor  relief,  269. 

probation  system,  277. 

tramps,  273. 
Individual  initiative,  favoured  by 

farm  life,  68,  69. 

Individuality,  city  and  country,  16, 
17. 

formed  by  environment,  74-76. 
Indoor  relief,  rural,  270. 
Industrial  population  of  city,  34, 

35. 
Insanity,  66,  67. 

provision  for  incipient,  274. 
Insects,  83-85,  155-157. 
Institutes,  Farmers',  208-210. 
Institutions,  184,  185. 

social,  200-232. 

improvement     of    rural     social, 

Chaps.  14,  15. 
Introduction,  v. 
Inventive  genius,  77,  78. 
Irrigation,  124. 
Israel,  Henry,  229,  232. 


Jails,  rural,  268. 
Jails  and  lockups,  276. 
James,  C.  C.,  231. 
Jenks  and  Lank,  46. 
Johnson,  Svenbjorn,  122. 
Jurrep,  H.  A.,  262. 

Kerr,  O.  J.,  216,  250,  254. 
Kirby,  P.  M.,  108. 
King,  D.  W.,  119,  122. 
Kitchen,  176,  177. 
Knorr,  Geo.  W.,  250,  253. 

Labour,  on  farm,  72,  73. 

social  aspects  of,  137-146. 

supply  of,  137,  138. 

providing  supply  of,  138-140. 

seasonal  demand  for,  137,  138. 
(See  Immigration.) 

conditions,  140-142. 

remedies,  142-144. 

hours  of,  144. 

in  house.     (See  Home.) 

out-of-doors,  178-180. 

(See  Labourers,  Servants.)' 
Labourers,  on  farm,  63,  68. 

accidents  among,  144,  145. 

(See  Labour.) 
Lamson,  F.,  183. 
Land,  social  aspects  of,  123-146. 

amount  of,  123-126. 

unimproved,  124-127. 

capitalistic  ownership  of,  129. 
Lander,  E.  B.,  231. 
Landlordism.     (See  Land,  Tenant 

System. ) 

Langford,  W.,  183. 
Lant,  A.  C.,   183. 
Laundry,  175,  176. 
Leadership,  lack  of  in  country,  42, 
52,  53. 

development  of,  199,  243-247. 
Lee,  Joseph,  263. 
Legislation,  on  machinery,  145. 

on  poor  relief,  271. 


298 


INDEX 


Lescahier,  Don  D.,  146. 
Library,  213-215. 

agencies  of  dissemination,  214. 
Lighting,  176. 
Liquor  question,  141,  142. 
Local     Improvement     Association, 

200-202. 

Logan,  Thos.  F.,  123. 
Lucke,  C.  E.,  182. 

McDbugall,  76. 

MacClintock,  S.  S.,  31. 

McVey,  Frank  L.,  109. 

Marsh,  B.  C.,  216. 

Machinery,  benefits  of  on  farm,  85- 

88. 
accidents    resulting    from,    144, 

145. 

use  in  home,  177. 
out-of-door  uses,  175-180. 

(See  Motor  Power.) 
Mail  service,  rural,  112. 
Mangold,  Professor,  61,  76,  199. 
Marketing,  98-103. 
Manuier,  Rene",  19. 
Meaning  of  Rural  Sociology,  3. 
Medical  inspection  of  school,  164. 
Metcalf,  166. 
Metz,  Corrinne  A.,  216. 
Middlemen,  100-103. 
Milking,  179. 
Milk  supply,  61,  158-160. 
Mill,  J.  S.,  132-134,  146. 
Mob  mind,  18. 
Moore,  V.  A.,  166. 
Mosquito,  156,  157. 
(See  Insects.) 
Motor  power,   172-174. 
Mountain  whites,  29-31. 

Nature,  contact  with,  64. 
Negro,  24. 

death  rate  in  city,  63. 
Nelson,  Julius,  166. 


Organisation,  benefits  of,  104. 

requirements  of,  105,  106. 
Organisation  of  factors  of  produc- 
tion, 90-92. 
Outdoor  relief,  rural,  269. 


Parcels  Post,  112. 

Parloa,  Maria,  183. 

Parsons,  Frank,  279. 

Parsons,  R.  A.,  166. 

Pathological  conditions,  rural,  264. 

Patriotism,  194,  195. 

Pauperism,  65,  264. 

Payne,  Will,  109. 

Pennington,  Mary  E.,  166. 

Perry,  C.  A.,  262. 

Pests,  elimination  of,  83-85. 

(See  Insects.) 

Peterson,  Frederick,  275,  279. 
Physical  defects  of  children,  163. 
Pioneer  community,  26,  27. 
Play,  190-193. 
Plunkett,  Sir  Horace,  56,  108,  109, 

146,  183,   199. 
Poe,  C.  H.,  262. 
"  Poor  Whites,"  31. 
Population,  and  food  supply,  5. 

of  city  and  country,  10. 

density,  14,  15. 

(See  City,  Country.) 

increase  in  city  and  country,  32- 

45. 
Power;  steam,  electricity,  etc.,  172- 

174. 

Preface,  vii. 
Prestige  of  city,  51,  52. 
Primitive  man,  147,  184. 
Pritchett,  H.  S.,  241,  244,  258,  259, 

262. 
Probation     system,     extension    to 

country,  277. 
Problems  of  country,  social,  6,  7. 

of  community,  15. 


INDEX 


299 


Production,   improvement  in,   77- 

89. 

(See  Crops.) 

affected  by  machinery,  85-88. 
organisation  of  factors  of,  90,  91. 
Profits,  distribution  of,  102,  103. 
Progress  of  farm  life,  8. 
Prohibition.     (See    Liquor    Ques- 
tion. ) 
Putnam,  Herbert,  216. 


Questionnaires,  on  country  life,  57- 
59. 


Reading  circles,  214. 
Recreation,  190,  197,  198. 

(See  Clubs.) 
Relief  work,  rural,  265. 
Religion,  of  mountain  whites,  30, 

31. 
Remedies,    for    labour    condition, 

142-144. 

Riley,  T.  J.,  285. 
Roads,  111. 

social  function  of,  113,  114. 
economy  of,  114-116. 
improvement  of,  116-118. 
construction,  118,  119. 
administrator  of,   119-122. 
superintendent  of,  120. 
Roberts,  A.  E.,  229. 
Rogers,  Arthur  A.  L.,  108. 
Rogers,  L.  A.,  166. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  8,  196,  199. 
Ross,  E.  A.,  17,  19. 
Ruediger,  Gustav  F.,  166. 
Rural     charities    and    correction, 

Chap.  17. 

Rural  deterioration,  47-49. 
Rural   problem,   social   nature  of, 

47-56. 

(See  Community.) 
Rysgaard,  J.  M.,  109. 


Saloon,  143. 

(See  Liquor  Question.) 
Sanitation  and  health,  147-167. 

direction  of  improvement,   148- 
150. 

in  the  home,  150-161. 

in  dairy,  159,  160. 

sewage.      (See  Diseases.) 

neighbourhood,  161-165. 

in  bathroom,  175. 

in  care  of  foods,  176. 
Satisfaction,  in  farm  life,  168,  169. 
Savings  bank,  144. 
Schmidt,  C.  C.,  263. 
Science  applied  to  agriculture,  80, 

81. 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  report  of, 

108. 

Schools,  rural,  and  school  children, 
162-165. 

medical  inspection  of,  164. 
Schools,  rural, 

additional  requirements,  258  ff. 

consolidation,  249-254. 

economy  of,  253. 

educational  advantages,  251. 

social  advantages,  249. 

deficiencies  of,  236-239. 

attendance,  237. 

cost,  238. 

extension  work,  260  ff. 

North  Dakota,  237. 

particular  demands  on,  239-249. 

agriculture,  239. 

domestic  science,  240. 

socialisation  of  children,  241. 

training  leadership,  243-247. 

for  social  centre,  247. 
Scudder,  Myron  T.,  193. 
Sewage,  150,  153-155,  175,  176. 
Silo,  171. 
Simmel,  168. 
Small  and  Vincent,  31. 
Small,  C.  H.,  231. 
Smith,  Adam,  10,  19. 


300 


INDEX 


Smith,  Theobald,  166. 

Social  aspects  of  land  and  labour, 

123-146. 

Social  Centre,  Rural, 
and  church,  222. 
and  consolidated  schools,  249  ff. 
need  of,  188  ff. 
Social  evil,  64,  65. 
Social  heredity,  20,  188. 
Socialisation,  of  country  life,  184- 

199. 

direction  of,  195-199. 
Social  life,  backward  in  country, 

54. 

disadvantages  in  country,  73,  74. 
lack  of,  186-188. 
Social  mediation,  12. 
Social  solidarity,  193,  195. 
Social  Survey,  Chap.  18. 
contents  of  sociological,  287. 
importance  of,  281. 
kinds  of,  285. 
nature  of,  285. 
relative   ease   of   making   rural 

survey,  285. 
schedule  for  rural,  289. 
value  in  city,  281. 
value  in  country,  283. 
Society  of  Equity,  109,  210,  211. 
Sombart,    10. 
Spoon,  W.  L.,  122. 
Springs,  152. 
Statistics,  cost  of  production,  93- 

98. 

Stern,  199-216. 
Strong,  Josiah,  45,  136. 
Students,  opinion  of  country,  57- 

59,  187. 
Suicide,  67. 

Supervision,  by  State,  149 
Survey,  145,  146. 

Table  of  Contents, 
Taylor,  A.  H.,  173,  183. 


Taylor,  Graham,  231. 
Taylor,  H.  C.,  131,  146. 
Teachers,   rural, 

statistics  of  training  in  North 

Dakota,  239. 
Telephone,  111-113. 
Tenant  farming,  130-132. 

significance  of,  132-135. 

improving,  135-137. 
Thomas,  W.  I.,  165. 
Tractors.     (See  Machinery.) 
Tramps,  273. 
Transportation,  99,  100. 

improvement  of,  110-122. 
( See  Communication. ) 
Turner,  31. 
Typhoid,  149. 

(See  Sanitation,  Diseases.) 

University  of  North  Dakota,  58. 

Value,  of  rural  sociology,  4,  7,  8. 

a  social  product,  4. 
Vice,  rural,  266. 

and  dependency,  267. 
Village,  195,  196. 
Vincent,  Small  and,  3) 

Wallace,  Alfred,  88. 

Wallace,  Henry,  232. 

Ward,  Lester  R,  88,  216. 

Water  supply,  126,  127,  151-153. 

Weber,  H.  J.,  88. 

Weeks,  A.  D.,  239,  262. 

Weidensall,  Robert,  232. 

Welch,  J.  B.,  262. 

Wells.     (See  Water  Supply.) 

West,  E.  M.,  182. 

Wiley,  H.  W.,  182. 

Williams,  76. 

Wilson,  E.  T.,  166,  182. 

Wilson,  W.  H.,  219,  231,  292. 

Wind-mills.     (See  Motor  Power.) 

Winkenwerder,  H.  A.,  263. 


INDEX  301 

Women,  labour  in  home,  176,  177.      Young,  132. 

clubs  for,  201.  Young  People,  clubs  for,  203,  204. 

Woodward,  S.  M.,  182.  institutes  for,  209. 

(See  Children.) 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  rural  work,  229  ff.          reading  circles  for,  214. 


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DEC  2 1  1956 

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JAN  16  195; 


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MAY  1 0  1963 

I     8  1966  3  2 

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